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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Western Social Sciences and Africa: The Domination and Marginalisation of a Continent
Author:Mlambo, Alois S.ISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:African Sociological Review (ISSN 1027-4332)
Volume:10
Issue:1
Pages:161-179
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Africa
Western countries
Subjects:colonialism
neocolonialism
social sciences
North-South relations
Bibliography/Research
History and Exploration
Development and Technology
sociology
imperialism
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/afrisocirevi.10.1.161
Abstract:This paper investigates the role that Western world views - or the Western 'sociology of ideas' - have played in the history of the African continent and its people. It considers the topic from the period of the Renaissance and the wave of early European expansion that it gave rise to, through the Enlightenment and the rise of Western industrialism, the era of European colonialism in Africa, to the postcolonial era. The paper argues that Western science, capitalism and social science and other knowledge and practices not only led to the domination of the African continent by the West but also to its marginalization in the world in terms of economic development and Africa's capacity to participate fully in the global knowledge community. It further argues that the domination and marginalization that were the hallmarks of the centuries of interaction between Africa and the West continue to the present and have serious implications for Africa's future development. Finally, the paper calls for the development of an African social science tradition and investigates the challenges facing scholars in Africa. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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