Abstracts History

Towards a decolonised philosophy of African history: theoretical reflections of the history academics in South Africa.

by Mlamuli. Tabhu

This study sought to investigate the coloniality and decolonised philosophy of African history through the theoretical reflections of the designated history academics in South Africa. The research was informed by the quest to revisit the philosophical question extended on the Africanness of African history, encapsulating the epistemic predicaments confronting history academics as they propound African history. The literature search covered in the study leaned more on the African archive since the study is designed from an African-centred worldview, and which in the main incorporated the succeeding themes with an attempt to unearth the epistemological, ontological, and metaphysical nature of philosophy of African history: the nature of history, modernist theory, and African history, neo-liberalism and African history, the conceptual meaning of African history, the philosophy of African history, academia in South Africa, the role of academics in African philosophy, decolonisation in Africa. African philosophy and decolonial theory as a conceivable decolonised philosophy of African history was closely considered in an attempt not only to frame the study from a particular dimension but also to make sense of the theoretical contributions made by the designated history academics in South Africa. The main endeavors of this research were to explore how history academics in South African institutions theorise the coloniality of the philosophy of African history and to understand how they also theorise a decolonised philosophy of African history. The study followed a qualitative research approach and a conceptual research design. This dissertation also closely considered an Afrocentric paradigm with an attempt of seeing, writing, and interpreting the philosophy of African history from an African centred worldview that views reality to be a construction of a community of learning. The five designated history academics in four different universities in South Africa were considered through convenience sampling. To generate the data from the designated participants the study employed semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the academics viewed the coloniality of the philosophy of African history through a modernist conception of the philosophy of African history, emphasis on African crisis, Africa as ahistorical. They also depicted that concerning a decolonised philosophy of African history can be theorised through an Africanist conception of the philosophy of African history, emphasis on African agency, and African self-consciousness. It is within the consideration of the above research findings that the study aimed at contributing to the looming and continued debates in Africa and precisely South Africa concerning the nature of the philosophy of African history in this age of decolonisation discourses with specific reference to History Education.