The Decolonial Turn in Media Studies in Africa and the Global South

Abstract

The Decolonial Turn in Media Studies in Africa and the Global South "This very interesting and potentially controversial book begs for a robust and honest discussion in media and communication studies. It argues for the decolonization of the field through what Last Moyo refers to as the decolonial turn, a turn he argues, should bring about cognitive justice in the field and relocate the project of theory building from Western universalism to decolonial multiculturalism emerging from the decolonial thinking of media scholars in both the Global North and the Global South. A very powerful and no holds barred critique."

Can African scholars speak? Situating African voices in International Communication scholarship

“…196). These narratives should be bottom-up and focus on promoting cognitive justice in multicultural environments (Moyo, 2020). Nyamnjoh (2012) consistently argued for the context as the foundation for African epistemologies.…”

“…Accordingly, African scholars need to develop an ‘analytical mindset’ that is capable of creating well-positioned African-oriented narratives in the rapidly changing technologies (Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill, p. 196). These narratives should be bottom-up and focus on promoting cognitive justice in multicultural environments (Moyo, 2020).…”

“…This is also true for sub-Saharan Africa that has witnessed the growing literature from among African scholars that seek to situate their voices in the global discourse. Notably, Moyo (2020) and his ideas of ‘decolonial turn’ – referring to the need for cognitive justice in the field and the desire to relocate the project of theory building to multicultural perspectives; Mano’s quest for rethinking African scholarship from the African metropolis rather than alongside it; Banda (2009) ’s push for Kasoma’s (1996) Afri-ethics and the idea of aligning to continental values; Mutsvairo et al’s (2020) interrogation of data journalism in the global south; and many other related studies that speak to the need for African scholars’ agency in global scholarship. However, in the context of international or global communication, particularly in shifting geopolitics, advanced technologies favor the developed Western.…”

“…As possible remedies to the problems, Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill (2021) suggest the need to de-contextualization (African) scholarship by promoting theoretical, conceptual, and methodological research rather than contextual differences. In other words, African scholars should go beyond the replication of Western methodologies and ask more profound questions that seek to transform the field of communication (Moyo, 2020). Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2020) believes that such an endeavor is only possible if we understand our audience or who we are writing for when we produce African scholars.…”

Ontologies of Journalism in the Global South

“…Self-perceptions often guide these as inferior, pre-modern, and living the Arab malaise (Alahmed, 2020;Said, 1979). Such perceptions have influenced Arab journalism training that shows a clear Anglo-Americanization and reproduces Western normativity as a yardstick for media (Badr & Elmaghraby, 2021;Moyo, 2020). Examples include the diffusion of the objectivity paradigm and an overfocus on a narrow set of technocratic pragmatic skills echoing Western buzzwords instead of Arab journalists and scholars developing a critical vision (Richter & Badr, 2017).…”