The African (Area) Studies Experience

An Intellectual History

Abstract

The idea of “Area studies” emerged before the Cold War. However, we must distinguish the genesis of the idea from its later institutionalisation in Western universities post-1945. Using African studies as a case, this paper examine the early origins of Area studies pre-1945, chiefly in England. We then trace the development of African studies in the USA, its connection to the changing political and economic interests after 1945 and its belated development in Brazil. This version of African studies largely reflected the evolving interests of countries who supported and funded it. It produced usable knowledge that primarily advanced their colonial and neo-colonial enterprises. Gatekeepers arose in the Global North, who founded well supported academic journals and African studies associations that, for a while, seldom engaged with black scholars in Africa. African studies scholars are still dealing with these fractured legacies and research agenda that favours funders from the Global North.