The relevance of psychology in Africa is increasingly debated by psychologists. The
subject stands accused of continuing a colonial tradition of oppression through its Eurocentrism
and failure to attend to the needs of African societies. The relevance debate raises questions
around the relationship between power, knowledge, psychology, and African history. This study
attempts to excavate the conditions of possibility of the debate, by construing an archaeology of
psychological knowledge as technology of power in the African context. It assumes a constructivist
stance, employs textual and narrative analogies, and follows Foucault's conceptualisation of the
relation between power and knowledge.
Five strata of knowledge emerging historically in Africa, each embodying distinctive approaches to
knowledge, are described: Indigenous African knowledge, African Islamic knowledge, African
Christianity, knowledges of Enlightenment, and knowledges of resistance. These knowledges, their
psychological dimensions, as well as the circulation of power within
and between them, are explored, and historical processes of subjugation and resistance
highlighted. Western psychology, as technology of modern power, is situated within modernism and
the narratives ofEnlightenment, which also provided the conditions of possibility of colonialism.
The dominant narratives of relevance are related to those of African resistance and the limitations
of psychology are conceptualised in terms of those pertaining to modernism. Possible postmodern
avenues to the liberation of both psychology and its subjects, that are relevant to African
contexts, are suggested. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/18048 |
| Date | 01 1900 |
| Creators | Bakker, T. M. (Therese Marié) |
| Contributors | Snyders, Frederik Jacobus Albertus, 1946- |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xii, 272 leaves) |
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