**5. South-south cooperation in epistemological issues**

There is no need for African universities to continue to be replicas of Oxford and Cambridge. Knowledge that is generated from African universities should be linked to African experiences so that it is able to solve African problems. Syllabi that are designed to meet the needs of colonialism should not find its way in the postcolonial era [23]. The situation calls for an epistemological transformation of universities. Transformation of the world's epistemological diversity into an empowering and emancipatory mechanism against hegemonic globalization speaks to another kind of bottom-up cosmopolitanism vested in the dialog of humankind, applauding cordiality, solidarity, and living in contradiction of rationality of profit-oriented avarice and egoism [24]. The recognition of epistemic diversity is important for universities in the global south because it helps in dislodging the domination of the north. On the contemporary global arena, the upsurge of knowledge and information is admitted to be one of the key forces of change relative to higher education in Africa, yet modern science, as epistemologies from the north, lack the "capacity to capture the inexhaustible diversity of the world" [24], rendering it a perpetuation of a Western knowledge hegemony and the annihilation of African thinking even in the inquiries about Africa affairs [25]. The situation calls for a reinvention of social emancipation that transcends the critical theory produced in the north and the social and political praxis to which it has subscribed by "opening" of the canon of knowledge, to the ongoing debates and initiatives on diversity and recognition [24]. The opening up of the canon of knowledge facilitates a horizontal progression of knowledge in a manner that accommodates other forms of knowledge through dialog and respect for other epistemic perspectives. Hence there is a need for critical discourses on epistemologies in universities in Africa as part of the south that challenges the "hegemony, universality and violence" [26] ushered in by Eurocentric philosophies just as we might never know where the cures for tomorrow will come from or the new construal of our planet's ecology as whole systems rather than reductionist parts or new ways to conceive of reconciliation or to define the human [27].

The call for a struggle of "alternative" knowledges which need to vigorously challenge the conception of other knowledges as "merely" local or indigenous is an acknowledgment that they are the products of socially systematized practices consisting of the deployment of diverse types of material and intellectual resources attached to specific situations and contexts [24]. The subjection of epistemologies in universities to critique and change over the last three or so decades demanding a criteria of what counts as knowledge and its validation has become, for some, the last crisis of epistemology that occurs through a twin problem of naturalization and historicization. Naturalization of epistemology entails reducing knowledge to the demands of natural sciences such as physics and chemistry where observation and experimentation are key. This is reductionism since it strips knowledge of its normative dimensions. Historicization of knowledge means making the history of knowledge a priority, yet genuine knowledge should address both the present and the future in terms of knowledge validation [28]. The naturalization of knowledge takes the direction of natural sciences where epistemology is reduced to observation sciences so that it departs from its normative concerns. Historicization of knowledge reduces epistemology to the history of ideas, and this is also problematic in the sense that the present and the future are left out.

From a radical design, an epistemology must be rooted in the experiences of the global south by critically thinking of contemporary epistemology as a normative project evocative of modern science which can be characterized as epistemological pragmatism. This will not only rescue epistemology from a confinement to, and centeredness on, scientific knowledge alone but to inclusively embrace all forms of knowledge. Santos' case is rooted in the discourse of "decolonising Western universalisms via decolonial pluriversalism" [2] in which the "universal" within the Western philosophical tradition is challenged by proposing an entry of another, more decolonial way of thinking universality [2]. There is no liberation without rationality; but there is no critical rationality without accepting the interpellation of the excluded, or this would inadvertently be only the rationality of domination. Santos makes a case for epistemological and theoretical tasks that can create new possibilities of progressive social transformation aimed at putting an end to the monumental Eurocentric theoretical justification of the unequal relations between the global north and the global south [24]. The proposal for an epistemology of the south is therefore a direct challenge to the neoliberal project which manifests in three major trends in higher education, namely, privatization, commercialization, and corporatization of knowledge as reflected by the unrelenting growth of capitalist and corporate influence [29, 30] especially in the university. "In the neoliberal model higher education is ideally integrated into the system of production and accumulation in which knowledge is reduced to its economic functions and contributes to the realization of individual economic utilities" [31].

An epistemology of the south would fittingly be a horizontal rather than vertical array of knowledge forms and sources of hierarchy in which African universities that do not feature on the top 500 of world rankings are rendered poor quality, second-rate, or failures as this is a clear reflection of global inequalities, with the burden of such characterizations weighing in disproportionately on universities in the global south. Besides, setting a "gold standard" [24], by placing knowledge systems on a ranking scale only to selectively discriminate those originating from disadvantaged communities especially in African universities, is to undermine the sources that engender them and a confirmed way of legitimating knowledge hierarchies. One way for African universities to attempt to improve their knowledge status on a global scale is to focus on granting the humanities and social sciences their rightful place in order to confront Africa's development challenges head-on. We argue that to be drawn to the empirical science-oriented platform for which African universities have no resources and general inclination needed to support research in this field is to play the zero-sum game.

I challenge African university leaders to valorize Africanity, and the fruit of their creative imagination (the knowledges they produce) should adopt different forms and manifest themselves differently according to context and necessity [32]. By arguing for an epistemology of the south, I observe Santos' case as a "decolonial epistemic perspective" that will assist with " … unveiling epistemic silences, conspiracies, and epistemic violence hidden within Euro-American epistemology and to affirm the epistemic rights of the African people that enable them to transcend global imperial designs" [33].

#### **6. Conclusion**

In this chapter, I have argued that the very idea of "African university" is logically incoherent because of excessive reliance on foreign epistemology that negates

**149**

perspectives.

**Author details**

Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Ephraim Taurai Gwaravanda

provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Great Zimbabwe University,

\*Address all correspondence to: etgwaravanda@gmail.com

*An Epistemological Critique of the African University Education System*

the idea of being African. The core of any university is the advancement of knowledge. Advancement of knowledge is based on a clear epistemological paradigm. The use of Eurocentric models of knowledge in the African university defeats the very idea of "African university." The African university has a history of colonialism that continues to threaten its very existence as evidenced by the domination of colonial epistemology. Eurocentric epistemology has used the ideals of universality, objectivity, and neutrality to hide the locality and situatedness of knowledge. On the basis of these "characteristics" of knowledge, Eurocentric epistemology has set standards of knowledge that African universities have followed for decades without sufficient criticism and evaluation. The use of colonial epistemologies in African universities has no rational justification that is immune to objections, but it is based on a history of fallacious reasoning that Eurocentric epistemology defended as "arguments." The use of colonial epistemologies in African universities disrespects both the students and the communities in which these universities are found. Epistemology from the south is used to dislodge the Eurocentric narrowness in order to pave way for alternative thinking and pluriversality within the African university. African universities should therefore cooperate with other universities within the global south so as to dislodge the tendency by Western epistemology to dominate African universities in the context of epistemology. The relational African epistemology can be used to open up dialog and respect for other epistemological

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85879*

#### *An Epistemological Critique of the African University Education System DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85879*

*Education Systems Around the World*

sense that the present and the future are left out.

utes to the realization of individual economic utilities" [31].

An epistemology of the south would fittingly be a horizontal rather than vertical array of knowledge forms and sources of hierarchy in which African universities that do not feature on the top 500 of world rankings are rendered poor quality, second-rate, or failures as this is a clear reflection of global inequalities, with the burden of such characterizations weighing in disproportionately on universities in the global south. Besides, setting a "gold standard" [24], by placing knowledge systems on a ranking scale only to selectively discriminate those originating from disadvantaged communities especially in African universities, is to undermine the sources that engender them and a confirmed way of legitimating knowledge hierarchies. One way for African universities to attempt to improve their knowledge status on a global scale is to focus on granting the humanities and social sciences their rightful place in order to confront Africa's development challenges head-on. We argue that to be drawn to the empirical science-oriented platform for which African universities have no resources and general inclination needed to support research in this field is to play the zero-sum game. I challenge African university leaders to valorize Africanity, and the fruit of their creative imagination (the knowledges they produce) should adopt different forms and manifest themselves differently according to context and necessity [32]. By arguing for an epistemology of the south, I observe Santos' case as a "decolonial epistemic perspective" that will assist with " … unveiling epistemic silences, conspiracies, and epistemic violence hidden within Euro-American epistemology and to affirm the epistemic rights of the African people that enable them to transcend

In this chapter, I have argued that the very idea of "African university" is logically incoherent because of excessive reliance on foreign epistemology that negates

sciences so that it departs from its normative concerns. Historicization of knowledge reduces epistemology to the history of ideas, and this is also problematic in the

From a radical design, an epistemology must be rooted in the experiences of the global south by critically thinking of contemporary epistemology as a normative project evocative of modern science which can be characterized as epistemological pragmatism. This will not only rescue epistemology from a confinement to, and centeredness on, scientific knowledge alone but to inclusively embrace all forms of knowledge. Santos' case is rooted in the discourse of "decolonising Western universalisms via decolonial pluriversalism" [2] in which the "universal" within the Western philosophical tradition is challenged by proposing an entry of another, more decolonial way of thinking universality [2]. There is no liberation without rationality; but there is no critical rationality without accepting the interpellation of the excluded, or this would inadvertently be only the rationality of domination. Santos makes a case for epistemological and theoretical tasks that can create new possibilities of progressive social transformation aimed at putting an end to the monumental Eurocentric theoretical justification of the unequal relations between the global north and the global south [24]. The proposal for an epistemology of the south is therefore a direct challenge to the neoliberal project which manifests in three major trends in higher education, namely, privatization, commercialization, and corporatization of knowledge as reflected by the unrelenting growth of capitalist and corporate influence [29, 30] especially in the university. "In the neoliberal model higher education is ideally integrated into the system of production and accumulation in which knowledge is reduced to its economic functions and contrib-

**148**

global imperial designs" [33].

**6. Conclusion**

the idea of being African. The core of any university is the advancement of knowledge. Advancement of knowledge is based on a clear epistemological paradigm. The use of Eurocentric models of knowledge in the African university defeats the very idea of "African university." The African university has a history of colonialism that continues to threaten its very existence as evidenced by the domination of colonial epistemology. Eurocentric epistemology has used the ideals of universality, objectivity, and neutrality to hide the locality and situatedness of knowledge. On the basis of these "characteristics" of knowledge, Eurocentric epistemology has set standards of knowledge that African universities have followed for decades without sufficient criticism and evaluation. The use of colonial epistemologies in African universities has no rational justification that is immune to objections, but it is based on a history of fallacious reasoning that Eurocentric epistemology defended as "arguments." The use of colonial epistemologies in African universities disrespects both the students and the communities in which these universities are found. Epistemology from the south is used to dislodge the Eurocentric narrowness in order to pave way for alternative thinking and pluriversality within the African university. African universities should therefore cooperate with other universities within the global south so as to dislodge the tendency by Western epistemology to dominate African universities in the context of epistemology. The relational African epistemology can be used to open up dialog and respect for other epistemological perspectives.
