Indigenous Knowledge and the development debate in Africa

Authors

Fidelis Ewane, EU Business SchoolFollow
Samson Ajagbe, University of FreiburgFollow

Abstract

This research employs Bourdieu’s theory of habitus to explain the disposition of the donor community to integrate indigenous knowledge systems and practices into development projects. The theory’s objectivist perspective specifies the mechanism that links structural conditioning to social practice and regularities. It holds that power is culturally and symbolically created, and it is constantly re-legitimized through the interplay of agency and structure. This facilitates an analysis of the development field as social space characterized by indigenous and donor power relations. It argues that the reinforcement of indigenous knowledge as the main channel for development will generate transferable local capacities and set new energies in motion in Africa that will greatly reduce the prevailing inequalities on the continent.

Recommended Citation

Ewane, Fidelis and Ajagbe, Samson (2018) "Indigenous Knowledge and the development debate in Africa," International Journal of African Development: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ijad/vol5/iss1/7