Religious Beliefs And Knowledge Systems In Africa

Author : Toyin Falola,Nicole Griffin
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 355 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2021-09-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781538150252

Get Book

Religious Beliefs and Knowledge Systems in Africa by Toyin Falola,Nicole Griffin Pdf

Key to African studies is understanding the knowledge systems of the continent and her diaspora. The representation and understanding of Africa are dependent on the observer’s definition of knowledge. Afrocentric knowledge is comprised of a collection of political, religious, and indigenous belief systems. Religious Beliefs and Knowledge Systems in Africa begins with deconstructing the Western philosophy of knowledge before defining and exploring the epistemic disciplines of Africa. It transcends postcolonial critique, through an Afrocentric approach to knowledge divided into three key themes. The first of these is the African worldview, exploring knowledge through eldership, witchcraft, and divination. This is followed up by kingship ideology and epistemologies, exploring discussing how politics, religion, and belief shape African society. Finally, the world religion chapter examines Christianity, Islam, and Pentecostalism in their impact on African ways of knowing. This book calls to action new fields of study in universities, encouraging a greater understanding of African ways of knowing through more nuanced disciplines.

Author : Munyaradzi Mawere
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 138 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789956726851

Get Book

African Belief and Knowledge Systems by Munyaradzi Mawere Pdf

The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.

Author : Nyoni, Bednicho
Publisher : University of Bamberg Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9783863096649

Get Book

Abundant Life and Basic Needs by Nyoni, Bednicho Pdf

"Western neglecting traditional religion is an important factor for the failure of many developmental strategies towards Africa. Therefore, religion(s) of the indigenous peoples must be given the neccesary attention. The book presents the example of the Shona religion playing a critical role in the life of the Zimbabweans. If incorporated, it will contribute to the better success of development initiatives." --back cover

Author : Toyin Falola
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2022-03-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781350271968

Get Book

African Spirituality, Politics, and Knowledge Systems by Toyin Falola Pdf

Focusing on the three leading religious traditions in Africa (African Traditional Religion, Islam, and Christianity), this book shows how belief in the supremacy of sacred words compels actions and influences practices in contemporary Africa. "Sacred words” are taken to mean holy texts as in divination, the Quran and the Bible. Toyin Falola evaluates how religious leaders engage with sacred words, both orals and texts, engendering practices that reveal the expression of religious beliefs, the impact of those beliefs, and the knowledge contained in them. Attention is given to the key ideas in the words chosen by religious leaders, and how they form a continuous knowledge system, impacting the politics of managing society and people.

Author : Michael C. Kirwen
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Africa
ISBN : IND:30000107653978

Get Book

African Cultural Knowledge by Michael C. Kirwen Pdf

"Based on field research data collected and analyzed over the past seventeen years, the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies has categorized cultural knowledge into fifteen themes and thirty-five domains. The themes are the major values, symbols and ideas that bring wholeness and coherence to a culture. The themes explain the nature of life, the nature of creation, the nature of evil, etc. Underneath and within these themes are thirty-five cultural domains, that is, specific activities, rituals, attitudes and happenings that make up the ordinary events in the lives of human beings, from birth to death and beyond ... The book is divided into fifteen chapters, one for each foundational theme"--Intro., p. [1].

Author : Ibigbolade Aderibigbe,Alloy Ihuah,Felisters Kripono
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2015-09-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9781443881272

Get Book

Contextualizing Indigenous Knowledge in Africa and its Diaspora by Ibigbolade Aderibigbe,Alloy Ihuah,Felisters Kripono Pdf

This volume proposes a wholesale adoption of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) as a paradigm for Africa's renewal and freedom from the whims of foreign interests. These systems, as argued here, involve balancing short-term thinking and immediate gratification with longer-term planning for future generations of Africans and the continent's diaspora. The book will be of interest to anyone concerned with development studies in Africa and its diaspora, as it offers plausible solutions to Africa's chronic developmental problems that can only be provided from within Africa, rather than through the intervention of external third parties. As such, it provides vital contributions to the ongoing search for viable answers to the challenges that Africa faces today.

Author : Toyin Falola,Matthew M. Heaton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 576 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Africa, Sub-Saharan
ISBN : UOM:39015076125544

Get Book

Health Knowledge and Belief Systems in Africa by Toyin Falola,Matthew M. Heaton Pdf

Health care in sub-Saharan Africa is and will continue to be an issue of utmost importance in the twenty-first century. As the HIV/AIDS pandemic ravages the continent, the stakes heighten not only to provide effective and efficient health care to African communities, but also to disseminate knowledge about health-seeking behavior and to instill belief among people in the possibility of leading a healthy existence. Health Knowledge and Belief Systems in Africa raises questions and offers analysis on many issues related to how health and illness are understood by communities in Africa, as well as how health knowledge and beliefs are disseminated and utilized to provide health services to African populations. The chapters in this book derive from many different disciplinary approaches and cover regions across sub-Saharan Africa, thus offering a holistic glimpse at the knowledge and belief systems functioning in Africa and the ways that these systems contribute to health care access and delivery in the world's most endangered continent. "This edited book of thirty-three chapters is an impressive update of scholarship on health concerns in Africa, as the new century begins. Divided into five parts, it presents multidisciplinary analyses from the perspectives of individuals, professionals, non-profit organizations, communities, and governments... This is a volume that has much to offer anyone interested in Africa's evolving health care system." -- The International Journal of African Historical Studies

Author : Fortune Sibanda,Tenson Muyambo,Ezra Chitando
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2022-02-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781000542080

Get Book

Religion and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Africa by Fortune Sibanda,Tenson Muyambo,Ezra Chitando Pdf

This book investigates the role of religion in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Southern Africa. Building on a diverse range of methodologies and disciplinary approaches, the book reflects on how religion, politics and health have interfaced in Southern African contexts, when faced with the sudden public health emergency caused by the pandemic. Religious actors have played a key role on the frontline throughout the pandemic, sometimes posing roadblocks to public health messaging, but more often deploying their resources to help provide effective and timely responses. Drawing on case studies from African indigenous knowledge systems, Islam, Rastafari and various forms of Christianity, this book provides important reflections on the role of religion in crisis response. This book will be of interest to researchers across the fields of African Studies, Health, Politics and Religious Studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Author : Ezra Chitando,Ernst M. Conradie,Susan M. Kilonzo
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 194 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2022-05-12
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781000587623

Get Book

African Perspectives on Religion and Climate Change by Ezra Chitando,Ernst M. Conradie,Susan M. Kilonzo Pdf

This book interrogates the contributions that religious traditions have made to climate change discussions within Africa, whether positive or negative. Drawing on a range of African contexts and religious traditions, the book provides concrete suggestions on how individuals and communities of faith must act in order to address the challenge of climate change. Despite the fact that Africa has contributed relatively little to historic carbon emissions, the continent will be affected disproportionally by the increasing impact of anthropogenic climate change. Contributors to this book provide a range of rich case studies to investigate how religious traditions such as Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and indigenous faiths influence the worldviews and actions of their adherents. The chapters also interrogate how the moral authority and leadership provided by religion can be used to respond and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. Topics covered include risk reduction and resilience, youth movements, indigenous knowledge systems, environmental degradation, gender perspectives, ecological theories, and climate change financing. This book will be of interest to scholars in diverse fields, including religious studies, sociology, political science, climate change and environmental humanities. It may also benefit practitioners involved in solving community challenges related to climate change. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

Author : Nhemachena, Artwell,Hlabangane, Nokuthula,Matowanyika, Joseph Z. Z.
Publisher : Langaa RPCIG
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2020-03-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789956551866

Get Book

Decolonising Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in an Age of Technocolonialism by Nhemachena, Artwell,Hlabangane, Nokuthula,Matowanyika, Joseph Z. Z. Pdf

Positing the notions of coloniality of ignorance and geopolitics of ignorance as central to coloniality and colonisation, this book examines how colonialists socially produced ignorance among colonised indigenous peoples so as to render them docile and manageable. Dismissing colonial descriptions of indigenous people as savages, illiterate, irrational, prelogical, mystical, primitive, barbaric and backward, the book argues that imperialists/colonialists contrived geopolitics of ignorance wherein indigenous regions were forced to become ignorant, hence containable and manageable in the imperial world. Questioning the provenance of modernist epistemologies, the book asks why Eurocentric scholars only contest the provenance of indigenous knowledges, artefacts and scientific collections. Interrogating why empire sponsors the decolonisation of universities/epistemologies in indigenous territories while resisting the repatriation/restitution of indigenous artefacts, the book also wonders why Westerners who still retain indigenous artefacts, skulls and skeletons in their museums, universities and private collections do not consider such artefacts and skulls to be colonising them as well. The book is valuable to scholars and activists in the fields of anthropology, museums and heritage studies, science and technology studies, decoloniality, policymaking, education, politics, sociology and development studies.

Author : Tenson Muyambo
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 478 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2022-02-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9789956552559

Get Book

Re-imagining Indigenous Knowledge and Practices in 21st Century Africa by Tenson Muyambo Pdf

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.

Author : Nobuntu Penxa Matholeni,Georgina Kwanima Boateng,Molly Manyonganise
Publisher : African Sun Media
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2020-08-04
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781928480730

Get Book

Mother Earth, Mother Africa & African Indigenous Religions by Nobuntu Penxa Matholeni,Georgina Kwanima Boateng,Molly Manyonganise Pdf

Africans embrace all of life, the humanity of each person, the world, and the creation of God. Consequently, African indigenous education reflects the completeness of life itself. The various chapters in this volume recount religious events and experiences from individual perspectives as they are unfolding on the continent. The different voices show how modernity, colonisation, urbanisation, Christianity, and technology have sidelined beliefs and practices of African traditional religions (ATRs) to the detriment of the environment. This volume brings together voices from leading proponents of ATRs and African religious heritage to help us appreciate how values are richly entrenched in African religious life. It demonstrates the detailed richness of ATRs and culture and showcases how far the academic study of ATRs in Africa has come, and calls for a concerted effort through partnership between various actors to ensure environmental sustainability.

Author : Joseph Z. Z. Matowanyika,Vielka Garibaldi
Publisher : Iucn-World Conservation Union
Page : 122 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Ethnoscience
ISBN : STANFORD:36105029502924

Get Book

Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Natural Resource Management in Southern Africa by Joseph Z. Z. Matowanyika,Vielka Garibaldi Pdf

Author : Hlumelo Biko
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2024-06-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781040038635

Get Book

The God in Us by Hlumelo Biko Pdf

This book traces the unitary source of all of the world’s major religions. The book underscores the fact that there are many ways in which humanity has sought revelation of God, yet there is a common inspiration behind humanity’s God concept. The author’s analysis of world religions or faiths adopts a multi-interdisciplinary approach taking the reader through historical, anthropological, archaeological, and theological viewpoints to make juxtapositions. God in us is a rich resource that helps the readers understand the origins of human civilisation and how humans began to worship God, domesticate animals like sheep, invent astrology and create languages. Biko’s research also delves deeper into unveiling African indigenous knowledge systems and science that predate the arrival of the colonisers on the African soil. Print edition not for sale in Sub Saharan Africa.

Author : Ngulube, Patrick
Publisher : IGI Global
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2016-09-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781522508342

Get Book

Handbook of Research on Theoretical Perspectives on Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Developing Countries by Ngulube, Patrick Pdf

There has been a growth in the use, acceptance, and popularity of indigenous knowledge. High rates of poverty and a widening economic divide is threatening the accessibility to western scientific knowledge in the developing world where many indigenous people live. Consequently, indigenous knowledge has become a potential source for sustainable development in the developing world. The Handbook of Research on Theoretical Perspectives on Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Developing Countries presents interdisciplinary research on knowledge management, sharing, and transfer among indigenous communities. Providing a unique perspective on alternative knowledge systems, this publication is a critical resource for sociologists, anthropologists, researchers, and graduate-level students in a variety of fields.