Academics with Clay Feet? Anthropological Perspectives on Academic Freedom in Twenty-First Century African Universities

Abstract

Clay feet are heavy and disabling, sadly in the decolonial scholarly battlefield which otherwise requires all-weather feet suitable for ongoing battles. Drawing on autoethnographic experiences in some African universities and drawing on Melanesian cargo cults, this paper argues that to decolonise Africa, African academics should abate cargo cult mentalities which account for pathological and uncritical intellectual dependence on theories, ideas and models from elsewhere. Similarly, drawing on Melanesian bigmanism and drawing on how some academics seek to control how students and colleagues think and write, this paper contends that those that pose as bigmen and bigwomen in African universities are a serious threat to decolonial critical, creative, innovative and original thinking. Thus, populated with some highranking academics who, nonetheless, lack decolonial creativity, originality, innovativeness and critical thinking, African universities are -like in Melanesian bigmen societies -marked by patron-client relations within which students and colleagues are sadly corralled into epistemic clientelism.

Chisi Chako Masimba Mashoma/Kunzi Pakata Sandi Kunzi Ridza: Anthropological Musings on the Coloniality of Dispossession in Africa

“…The coloniality of dispossession takes note of the fact that having been dispossessed of their land, livestock, artifacts, and minerals, Africans are now set to be dispossessed of their personal data in the age of the Internet of Things and wearable devices that constantly emit data that are sent to the transnational corporations which own and control the devices and software used to collect the Big Data. The point here is that it is necessary to draw insights from the anthropology of science and technology studies to understand the ongoing processes by which Africans are being dispossessed of their Big Data using the new technologies (Nhemachena & Mawere, 2022). Thus, writing about how contemporary global capital dispossesses human beings of their personal data, Couldry and Meijas (2018, pp.…”

Kukumirwa Semombe Dzamavhu: When Voices Begin to Erupt from Bottoms, African Anthropology Becomes Colonial

“…Having been taught to fear the voices of their ancestors who were colonially defined as demons, some Africans now prefer to listen to the voices of mashave (foreign spirits); having been taught that their parents and grandparents were savages, other Africans now prefer to listen to the voices of foreigners who have replaced African fathers and grandfathers; having been taught that African media are untrustworthy, some Africans now prefer to listen only to foreign media; and having been taught that Africans are primitive, other Africans now prefer to read publications by foreigners. In a context where some Africans are now afraid even to hear their own African voices, it is not surprising that when they publish journal articles, they prefer to do so with Euro-American or imperial publishers (Nyamnjoh, 2004 ; Nhemachena & Mawere, 2022 ). In a context where some Africans are afraid to hear their own voices, it is not surprising that they even mimic the accent of the colonialists and imperialists—and that is considered preferable to a purely African accent.…”

“…African cultures are dumped daily on the continent of Africa much as authentic African voices are dumped. Authentic African spouses are dumped as much as authentic African voices are dumped daily on the continent, and authentic African ancestors are dumped in Africa much as authentic African voices are dumped on the continent; similarly, authentic African publishers are dumped (Nyamnjoh, 2004 ; Nhemachena & Mawere, 2022 ) on the continent of Africa much as authentic African voices are dumped. In other words, Africans are excelling at the game of dumping everything African because the colonial spirit of dumping everything African has taken possession of the Africans who are now suffering what I call the dumping syndrome .…”

“…In African universities where academics have dumped their own voices and adopted colonial voices, academic pageantries have become more of ceremonies of possession celebrating the loss of the African selves, loss of self-ownership and loss of the African voices (Nhemachena & Mawere, 2022 ). The ceremonies celebrate departure from the African world and entry into the world of the colonial spirits including colonial voices which the academics begin to speak, more like in glossolalia.…”

“…The major problem is that some Africans feel comfortable in kukumirwa semombe dzamavhu : they are afraid of hearing their own voices, they are afraid of their own pigmentation; and they are so afraid of their own shadows that they are forever running away from such shadows, even as they take shelter in the shadows of other people beyond the continent. When they hear their own African voices, they panic and shout “disruptive”; when they hear the voices of their fellow Africans they panic and shout “disruptive”; when they read publications from their own universities’ presses or other publishers on the continent, they panic and shout “disruptive” (Nhemachena & Mawere, 2022 ); when they read theorisations from their fellow Africans, they panic and shout “disruptive” and when they see their newly born babies that look like authentic Africans they panic and shout “disruptive”. The only thing that comforts such academics is when they stroll in university campuses of which libraries are packed with books written by people from elsewhere outside the continent and published from outside Africa.…”