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Bokutani, the Journal of the African Studies Association in Africa

Bokutani: The Journal of the African Studies Association of Africa, is delighted to announce a call for papers for its inaugural issue on “Ecologies of Knowledge in Global Africa.”

As a discipline, African Studies attempts to produce knowledge on the meanings, manifestations, and possible trajectories of the idea of “Africa,” center African subjects, and implement a methodology founded on the pluriversal ethos of African cultures. It is at the same time an epistemic stance, a political intervention, and a method of analysis. From Pan-Africanism to the Negritude movement and, more recently, Afropolitanism, Afrofuturism, Critical African Feminism, Motherhood Studies, and Decoloniality, etc., African Studies has foregrounded African agency, questioned centuries of epistemicide that presented Africa as the land where the sun never rises, and put forth a pluridisciplinary, inclusive, and participatory approach to knowledge production that question the limits of Euro-Modern disciplinarity. Following the pluriversal ethos of the griot tradition, the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) sets bridges across the humanities, thereby emphasizing the need to understand African phenomena from multiple perspectives. Moreover, researchers often engage with local communities, privileging African knowledges and practices and using methodologies sensitive to cultural contexts and power dynamics. For all these reasons, ASAA can be schematized as an intellectual and political commitment to reclaim, validate, and expand the understanding of African intellectual traditions and cultural practices and intervene in concrete ways in the good lives of African peoples.

As the premier Association of African Studies on the continent, ASAA is eager to participate in this rich tradition, providing a platform for scholarly discourses centering on African perspectives and agency. In light of ASAA’s mission, this Inaugural Issue will reflect on the state of African knowledge production by featuring articles that revisit the history of African knowledge production from a new perspective and showcase new and emerging discourses in the discipline. In other words, the inaugural issue of Bokutani invites articles that engage with the continued relevance of the intellectual tradition of African Studies from a more general conceptual framework (why African Studies today?), a methodological framework (how to should/do we study Africa today?) and a thematic framework (How relevant are particular intellectual frameworks in African Studies?).

This inaugural issue aims to advance a nuanced understanding of the ecologies of knowledge in Africa, with a strong focus on the significance of African agency in knowledge production. We seek contributions addressing foundational and emerging intellectual traditions, offering insights into pivotal moments in African Studies, and embracing new methodologies. This special Issue will inform on the state of African Studies as a discipline while featuring papers that either revisit less-known African intellectual traditions, showcase emerging discourses in African Studies, and bring fresh interpretations of old discourses in the discipline.

Scope and Themes

We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to submit original research articles, reviews, case studies, and theoretical papers that address the following themes:

1. The intellectual, political, and social Relevance of African Studies
   • Contemporary relevance of African Studies as a method, a political stand, and or an agent of change
   • Pivotal moments in African Studies and knowledge production globally
   • Innovative methodologies in African studies
   • Participatory and community-based African Studies Research Practices and the future of research beyond area studies
2. Contemporary Relevance of foundational and emerging intellectual traditions
   • African and Knowledge Systems
   • Negritude
   • Pan-Africanism
   • Ubuntu Philosophy
   • African Sage Philosophy
   • Feminist and Gender Studies in African contexts
   • Black Consciousness Movement
   • Afropolitanism
   • Afrofuturism
   • Digital African Humanities
   • Ecofeminism and Environmental Justice
   • Decolonial African Studies

1. Global Relevance of African Social and Political Traditions
   • Role of educational institutions in preserving and promoting African knowledge
   • Innovations in science and technology within African contexts
   • Agricultural techniques and environmental management
   • Social organization, governance, and conflict resolution
   • Traditional medicine and healing practices

Submission Guidelines

• Manuscripts should be between 5,000 to 7,000 words, inclusive of references, tables, and figures. The citation style accepted by the journal is APA.
• Abstracts of up to 250 words should accompany each submission.
• All submissions must adhere to Bokutani’s style guide and formatting requirements.
• Submissions can be made here

Important Dates

• Submission of abstract: October 15^th, 2024
• Submission of paper: December 15^th, 2024
• Notification of Decision: January 15^th, 2025
• Publication Date: April 15, 2025

Review Process

All submissions will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process to ensure the highest standards of academic quality and relevance.

Contact Information

For inquiries and further information, please contact

Cheikh Thiam, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.