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The Struggle for Relevance in African Studies: An African Student’s Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Stephen N. Ndegwa
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Extract

The African student studying about Africa in the United States participates in two communities. The first community is the academic one in which studies of Africa are pursued; the second community is the existential one with which the individual identifies outside academe—most often the country of origin or the continent in general. (By existential community I mean the community to which the student has profound personal ties, such as family and friendships, and an enduring commitment.) Each community has its own values, commitments, and immediate agendas. As a member of the academic community, the African student must contribute to theoretical advancement; and, as a privileged member of an existential community, he or she must contribute to the development process.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , Summer 1992 , pp. 42 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1992 

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Footnotes

*

Stephen N. Ndegwa is a doctoral student in Political Science at Indiana University. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a panel on “African Studies in U. S. Universities,” organized by the African Activists’ Association at the 34th Annual Meeting of the ASA in St. Louis in November 1991. The author acknowledges the help of York Bradshaw, C. R. D. Halisi, Bruce Heilman, Paul Kaiser, Patrick O’Meara and Brian Winchester; and initial encouragement from Akwasi Osei and Katundu Wongani. Final responsibility, of course, remains with the author.

References

Notes

1. I am particularly indebted to C. R. D. Halisi for clarification regarding this point. See Ekeh, Peter P., “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, v. 17, n. l, January 1975, pp. 91–112 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, for an idea similar to the “two communities.”

2. Whitaker, C. S., “A Coda on Afrocentricity,” in Sklar, Richard and Whitaker, C. S., African Politics and Problems in Development, Boulder, CO, Lynne Reinner, 1991, p. 358 Google Scholar.

3. Ibid., p. 357.

4. Osaghae, Eghosa E., “Redeeming the Utility of the Ethnic Perspective in African Studies: Towards a New Agenda,” Journal of Ethnic Studies, v. 18, n. 2, 1990, pp. 37–58 Google Scholar.

5. See, e.g., Melson, Robert and Wolpe, Howard, “Modernization and the Politics of Communalism: A Theoretical Perspective.” American Political Science Review, v. 64, n. 4, 1970, pp. 1112-30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6. Richard Sklar, “The African Frontier for Political Science,” paper prepared for the forthcoming volume on “Contributions of African Studies to the Humanities and Social Sciences,” January 1992, p. 18.