Between Rhetoric and Reality

The State and Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Post-Colonial Africa

Munyaradzi Mawere, Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye, Munyaradzi Mawere, Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye

• Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9789956792696
• eBook ISBN: 9789956792832
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Since time immemorial, indigenous peoples around the world have developed knowledge systems to ensure their continued survival in their respective territories. These knowledge systems have always been dynamic such that they could meet new challenges. Yet, since the so-called enlightenment period, these knowledges have been supplanted by the Western enlightenment science or colonial science hegemony and arrogance such that in many cases they were relegated to the periphery. Some Euro-centric scholars even viewed indigenous knowledge as superstitious, irrational and anti-development. This erroneous view has, since the colonial period, spread like veld fire to the extent of being internalised by some political elites and Euro-centric academics of Africa and elsewhere. However, for some time now, the potential role that indigenous peoples and their knowledge can play in addressing some of the global problems haunting humanity across the world is increasingly emerging as part of international discourse. This book presents an interesting and insightful discourse on the state and role that indigenous knowledge can play in addressing a tapestry of problems of the world and the challenges connected with the application of indigenous knowledge in enlightenment science-dominated contexts. The book is not only useful to academics and students in the fields of indigenous studies and anthropology, but also those in other fields such as environmental science, social and political ecology, development studies, policy studies, economic history, and African studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• List of Contributors
• Contents
• Chapter 1 - Rethinking African Indigenous Knowledges and World Civilisations: Pasts, presents and the Futures
• Chapter 2 - Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Management in Africa: Some showcases from Zimbabwe
• Chapter 3 - An Evaluation of African Traditional Scientific Knowledge and Technological Devices
• Chapter 4 - Indigenous Knowledge, Conflation and Post-colonial Translation: Lessons from Fieldwork in Contemporary Rural Zimbabwe
• Chapter 5 - Traditional Healers and Medicine in South Africa: A Quest for Legal and Scientific Recognition
• Chapter 6 - A History of Pre-colonial and Colonial Wildlife Conservation in Ghana
• Chapter 7 - ‘Sheep in Sheep’s Clothing or Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing?’ Interventions by Non-state Actors in a Changing Climatic Environment in Rural Zimbabwe
• Chapter 8 - Religion and the Restoration of Health in Africa: A Case Study of the Traditional Akan People of Ghana
• Chapter 9 - Indigenous Knowledge and the Management of Ecological Resources for Africa’s Development
• Chapter 10 - The Role of Indigenous Shona Cultural Beliefs and Practices in the Conservation of the Environment
• Chapter 11 - Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Dispute Resolutions: The Yoruba Example
• Chapter 12 - The Role and Efficacy of Indigenous Knowledge in Fostering Sustainable Development in Africa: A Case Study of Zimbabwe
• Chapter 13 - Promoting Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Development in Africa: A Case Study of Ghana
• Back cover