Kwame Nkrumah, African Studies, and the Politics of Knowledge Production in the Black Star of Africa

Abstract

The article discusses African studies during the 1950s and 1960s. Particular focus is given to the "Encyclopaedia Africana" project, that envisioned creating an encyclopedia on Africa. The production of knowledge within African studies research, including the roles played by the former Ghanaian President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the McGill University research fellow Thomas Lionel Hodgkin, the University of Ghana's Institute of African Studies and the pan-Africanist W.E.B. Du Bois, is discussed.