Decolonising Knowledge in Africa: One More Time!

The British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), together with the Humanities Research Centre (HRC) University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) invites you to join a seminar on Decolonising Knowledge in Africa: One More Time! This hybrid event is organised in conjunction with the BIEA Regional Research Associates network in person at the University of Dar es Salaam and online.

Speakers: Prof. Ezra Chitando and Prof. Obert Mlambo.
Chair: Prof. Elgidius Ichumbaki
Venue: Digitizing Room 221, UDSM New Library
To join remotely on Zoom:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/welcome
Meeting ID: 815 5990 4837
Passcode: B1EA&UDSM

Abstract
The discourse on decolonising knowledge in Africa, while not a recent phenomenon, continues to gain momentum in diverse contexts. Scholars from diverse disciplines have sought to challenge the hegemony of Western epistemic traditions. Indeed, for some critics, the whole enterprise has become somewhat trite, with “decolonising this” and “decolonising that” becoming fashionable. This paper seeks to invite discussion around some key questions. These include: 1. What does it mean to (seek to) decolonise knowledge in Africa? 2. What are the major motivating issues? 3. Who are some of the leading voices? 4. What, if any, have been some of the achievements? 5. What are some of the key criticisms? The paper will be more conversational than presentational, to facilitate maximum participation from those present.

Ezra Chitando is a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe and the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He also served as the World Council of Churches regional coordinator of ecumenical HIV and AIDS initiatives and advocacy for Southern Africa. His research includes the intersection of religion and health, sexuality, development, security, peacebuilding, gender, politics, climate change, disability, and others.

Obert Bernard Mlambo teaches Classics and History at Rhodes University. Previously, Mlambo was an Associate Professor of Classics and History at the University of Zimbabwe and a Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the Global South Studies Centre of the University of Cologne. Mlambo’s areas of research interest are violence, religion, gender and masculinity studies, civil war and post-war societies. He is the author of Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwe: Veterans, Masculinity and War (Bloomsbury 2022).