Afrikology: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Knowledge and Value in Africa

During the twentieth century, global politics and economics have been marked by two politically, economically, and intellectually divisive rather than culturally and psychologically integrative forces. This has been reflected in the "East/West" mutually antagonistic divide of communism/capitalism and the North/South chasm of wealth and poverty. The result, worldwide, has been, to a considerable degree, stasis and disintegration. In this book, the authors argue that both capitalism and communism were born out of narrow views of our humanity, ignoring the cultural richness of the rest of the world.

The evidence is everywhere: climate change, terrorism, rising poverty, political tension, social chaos and food insecurity. But this is not a book of lamentations. The authors present real case studies to demonstrate that there is an alternative to the current chaos: Afrikology. It is "Afri-" because it is inspired by ideas initially produced in Africa, the cradle of humankind; it is "ko (logy)" because it is based on logos, the word from which the world was originated, but at the same time, an episteme, a worldly-wise eco-logical knowledge, and consciousness. It stands for a plurality of epistemic directions. Knowledge, therefore, is an interpretation that is always situated within a living communal tradition, co-created by individuals, communities, and enterprises, specifically out of Africa's genius, alongside others.