Bendix and Ndlovu-Gatsheni in dialogue: conceptualising the (de)colonial, knowledge and development

Abstract

Today we are witnessing an intensification of colonial and imperial projects in Africa which require analyses and frameworks that can support the advancement of anti-colonial struggles for liberation and decolonisation. This review article brings Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni's Decolonization, development and knowledge in Africa: turning over a new leaf and Daniel Bendix's Global development and colonial power: German development policy at home and abroad into conversation. Both books engage with the 'colonial question' in Africa through contrasting research strategies and standpoints. Reading them together and drawing attention to their overlaps and divergences allows us to reflect on the diverse ways of analysing the colonial in Africa, and how to conceptualise the relationship between development and decolonisation. This article enters into dialogue with the authors by focusing on the relationship between knowledge, memory and education in the context of decolonisation and on the imperative to (re)centre and revitalise non-Western knowledges.