Trajectories of Communication Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa
A comprehensive history of African communication study is yet to be written. As a modest attempt to reduce the gap, this contribution proposes an outline of communication scholarship in Africa south of the Sahara from the first scattered studies in the mid-1950s and until today’s global orientation. The chapter proposes three major phases in the development of communication study in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The first phase may be described as a phase of modernization, covering the period 1950–70. Training and research in this period were generally marked by an idea of knowledge transfer from the West, ultimately aiming to modernize African societies. However, falling trust in the modernization paradigm led communication study on the continent to emerge into the second phase which could be described as a period of Africanization (1970–90). The phase coincided with growing emphasis on indigenous communication and calls for counter-flows in global communication. Meanwhile, the continent became a battlefield for political influence by outside actors, leading to different routes in communication research and education for different African countries. The period saw a considerable growth in the number of media and communication departments on the continent.
The third phase (1990 onwards) has witnessed further expansion of African communication study and could be described as a phase of diversification. Collaboration with global research environments has increased and the range of scholarly approaches has widened, although communication study on the continent still suffers from shortage of resources, fragmentation of competence and, to some extent, continuing dependency on external support.
The first phase may be described as a phase of modernization, covering the period 1950–70. Training and research in this period were generally marked by an idea of knowledge transfer from the West, ultimately aiming to modernize African societies. However, falling trust in the modernization paradigm led communication study on the continent to emerge into the second phase which could be described as a period of Africanization (1970–90). The phase coincided with growing emphasis on indigenous communication and calls for counter-flows in global communication. Meanwhile, the continent became a battlefield for political influence by outside actors, leading to different routes in communication research and education for different African countries. The period saw a considerable growth in the number of media and communication departments on the continent.
The third phase (1990 onwards) has witnessed further expansion of African communication study and could be described as a phase of diversification. Collaboration with global research environments has increased and the range of scholarly approaches has widened, although communication study on the continent still suffers from shortage of resources, fragmentation of competence and, to some extent, continuing dependency on external support.
Publisert i 2016
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