A importância dos Estudos Africanos

The strategic importance of African Studies within universities is an unresolved debate. For the detractors, African Studies would best be integrated into disciplines like Anthropology, Political Science, History or Art History. A worse-case scenario would see African Studies simply disappear and give way to more ‘promising’ disciplines like technology or management. Do African Studies programmes – like Social Sciences in general – not train the future generation of unsuccessful job-seekers? That question is all wrong. African Studies matter for countless reasons. Africa is the continent of the 21st Century. It matters in terms of economic growth potential, natural resource supplies and geo-politics. Arena of radical Islam or battle ground in the search for undiscovered tropical plants that will cure new diseases? Africans and Africans of the diaspora are key players in the world of culture. The US now imports more of its oil from Africa than from the Middle East. Potential yes, but problems too. These include sever hunger and poverty, AIDS/HIV, violent conflict, shifting balance-of-power struggles, eg the emergence of China and India on the continent. The failure of many development schemes results from the pressure on technocrats who have to solve problems without taking the time to think through processes and viadynamics. African Studies has the duty to train the thinkers. As Africa becomes increasingly globalized, Europe and the US need area experts who can play a pro-active role in addressing the challenges of Africa, but also participate in the multiple opportunities the continent offers. We need experts that are culturally sensitive, fluent in local languages, empathetic, capable of creatively thinking through problems and finding solutions. African Studies in our universities have a role to play here. Our former students are also unavoidable networkers, the bridges between our universities and African decision-makers and entrepreneurs. There is certainly room for improvement in the way we train area specialists and this should be part of the debate – but this should not be a pretext to dispense entirely with African Studies teaching and research. Europe and the US have tough decisions to take about involvement in and engagement with Africa. This will be a calamity without the input of experts. Drones and satellites can provide information – but our students and researchers can provide the far more important analysis and understanding of local realities. Theodore Trefon --- via Professor Eduardo Costa Dias