This book is on the re-imagination of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS)
and practices in 21st century Africa. Framed from an anti-colonial
perspective, the book critically interrogates epistemological erasures
and injustices meted against African IKS and practices. It magnifies the
different contexts where African IKS were and continue to be used
effectively for collective and personal benefit. Beyond the legitimate
frustration and disheartenment expressed by the contributors to this
volume over the systematic colonial efforts to render inferior and
delegitimate African systems of knowing and knowledge production, the
book makes an important contribution to the quest to correct
misconceptions and misrepresentations by Eurocentric thinkers and
practitioners about African indigenous knowledges. The book makes an
informed claim that the future and vibrancy of African indigenous
knowledge and practices lie in how well scholars of knowledge studies
and decoloniality in and on Africa are able to join hands in
articulating, debating and fronting their vitality and relevance in
varied real-life situations. More importantly, the book provides a
re-invigorated overview and nuanced analyses of the important role and
continued relevance of African IKS and practices in the understanding,
interpreting and tackling of the social unfoldings of everyday life and
dynamism. Without romanticising African IKS and practices, the book
provides added insights and pointers on policy and trends. It is an
important addition to critical debates on knowledge studies across
fields.
