Eurocentrism can be understood as an ideology drawing largely from classical and modern European inheritance that seeks within the order of knowledge, the sciences, economics, politics, technology, and discourse in general to place Europe and its thought systems as the centre of global power and thus create a one-dimensional world rather than a polycentric world as the basis for European domination in general. Let us say from the start that our ensuing critique of Eurocentrism from an African perspective does not mean defending some form of Afrocentricity in thought in the sense of Molefi Kete Asante. Asante characterises the status for Afrocentric knowledges in the following manner: ‘Afrocentricity is a quality of thought, practice and perspective that perceives Africans as subjects and agents acting in their own cultural image and human interests’. Asante further argues that Afrocentricity is about location, precisely because African people have been operating from the fringes of the Eurocentric experience. Many of the studies on African history, culture, politics, literature and economics, Asante contends, have been in pursuit of European interests.

Our view is that the origin of knowledge should not present a criterion for judging its validity and that many discourses, of multiple origin, may shed light on the challenges facing contemporary Africa.

Edward Said also had something to say on this question of European writing on Africa: