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Social Science Research and the Africanist: The Need for Intellectual and Attitudinal Reconfiguration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Wisdom J. Tettey  and
Korbla P. Puplampu
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Abstract

This paper acknowledges that states in Africa have contributed to the problems confronting social science research on the continent. It argues, however, that the causes of the problem go beyond the state. The paper undertakes an intensive exercise in introspection within the continental and external Africanist communities to explain the problems confronting social science research on the continent. The study identifies several factors as challenges facing research: intellectual distancing of the disciplines from society, the retrogressive sociopolitical atmosphere that characterizes some African universities, and the negative attitudes of individual academics. It argues further that these problems are compounded by the politics surrounding the hierarchical processes of intellectual validation and propagation at the global level. The paper concludes that without a correction of these internal and external deficiencies, it will be difficult to maintain a respectable and beneficial level of research endeavor, integrity, collaboration, and sustainability.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article rend compte de la contribution de certains États d'Afrique aux problèmes auxquels se heurte la recherche en sciences sociales sur le continent. Nous essayons cependant de montrer que les causes de ces problèmes se situent en deçà de la responsabilité de l'État. Cet article entreprend un exercice intensif d'auto-introspection à l'intérieur des communautés africanistes continentales et extérieures afin d'expliquer les problèmes auxquels doit faire face la recherche en sciences sociales sur le continent. Cette étude met en évidence la distanciation intellectuelle prise par ces disciplines sur la société, l'atmosphère sociopolitique rétrograde caractérisant certaines universités africaines, ainsi que les attitudes négatives d'universitaires isolés comme des défis auxquels la recherche doit faire face. Nous suggérons en outre que ces problèmes sont aggravés par le climat politique existant autour des processus hiérarchiques de validation et de propagation intellectuelles au niveau global. Cet article conclut qu'à moins de corriger ces déficiences internes et externes, il sera difficile de maintenir un niveau d'engagement à la recherche, d'intégrité, de collaboration et de crédibilité respectables et bénéfiques

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , December 2000 , pp. 81 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2000

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