USA Africa Dialogue Series - Training Scholars in Critical Generalization and Application of Such Abstractions, also Known as Theory

'Increasingly, African scholarship is associated with the production of empirical fact and socio-economic impact rather than theory, with ostensibly local rather than international publication, and with other forms of disadvantage that undermine respectful exchange and engagement. This discourages our engagement with Africa as a place of intellectual production in its

own right.'

'The future of African Studies: what we can do to keep Africa at the heart of our research'

Insa Nolte

True?

African tertiary education is an outpost of the Western academy headquartered in Europe and North America.

The ideas  produced in those locations are spread through the rest of the system like blood pumped through the body by the beating of the heart.

The vehicles of this blood, the means of transmission of these ideas, books published in the West, are now too expensive to easily acquire in economies not operating at the same strength as the Western economies.  Digital media could make a significant difference but Internet access is expensive in Nigeria, for example.

But....

What is theory but the creation of explanatory generalizations?

Do you need access to theory developed in the heartlands of the Western academy and its publishing houses to theorize?

No.

All peoples theorized in creating meaning for their societies.

All large scale explanatory systems are forms of theory.

Proverbs are demonstrations of theory.

Myths are forms of theory.

Cosmologies are forms of theory.

Many theories  can be traced ultimately to such sources.

Why not develop your own theories and share amongst each other, cross-fertilizing each other as Europe did to create the critical mass it enjoys today?

Why not create theories that aspire to explain not only your own realities but all reality relevant to that theory?

This can be done in open access platforms online, escaping costs associated with physical congregation.

Theory is a necessary activity of the human as it makes meaning of existence.

Consciousness implies theorizing, extrapolating from the known to the unknown, creating interpretive webs that justify existence and help navigate its landscapes.

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