African Diaspora Contributions

to African Studies: Towards a

Knowledge-based African

Society Model

Dr. Alain Nkoyock Scholar and Practitioner

www.nkoyock.net and blog.nkoyock.net

Founder and President

Think Tank CABAC (www.icabac.org)

Tuesday, November 29th, 2016, 17.00 hrs

Department of African Studies, University of Vienna

Seminar room 1

Chair of the talk:

Prof. Dr. Adams Bodomo Professor of African Studies (Chair of Languages and

Literatures),

Director, Global African Diaspora Studies (GADS) Research

Platform,

University of Vienna, African Studies Department

Address: Institut für Afrikawissenschaften,

Spitalgasse 2, Hof 5, 1090 Wien

Think Tank CABAC

Missions:

• Founded in 2014;

• Team of scholars and professionals from

Africa residing abroad;

• Promote patriotism, networking, and

cooperation among Africans in the Diaspora;

• Human dimension of the contribution of the

diaspora.

Think Tank CABAC

• Human dimension of the contribution of the

diaspora:

– African diaspora are divided between two

identities and it is important that they are

reconciled with that, and acting in their country of

origin contributes to their equilibrium;

• Findings of Paul Dahan, Director, CCME

(Council of the Moroccan Community

Abroad).

Think Tank CABAC

Approach:

• Outlines ways in which Africans abroad can

make a difference in their home continent.

1. Diaspora Africans should harness their talents,

expertise, and resources for Africa’s

development and nation building through

programs, policies, and advocacy;

2. Contribute to African studies.

6

Re 1: Case Study Research

Re 1: Case Study Research

• 19 Scholars and Professionals

• Explored the extent to which the African diaspora can influence national development issues

• Explored modalities through which the African diaspora can exercise such influence.

Six Parts:

• Mobilization of African diaspora

• Diaspora and international relations

• Diaspora and political and economic governance

• Diaspora, economic growth and social progress

• Diaspora and scientific and technological

development

• Thematic networks of the Cameroon Diaspora.

Re 1: Case Study Research

• African Diaspora in the information age;

• Knowledge of Africa, Knowledge by Africans

(Hountondji, 2009);

• Contribution of the African diaspora to a

knowledge-based African society (KAS);

• Knowledge of African societies and their

interactions with the rest of the world.

Re 2: Contribute to African Studies

Objectives of the Colloquium

• Collaboration between Think Tank CABAC

and Global African Diaspora Studies

(GADS);

• KAS Scholarly-Practice-Networking (KAS-

SPN) model that facilitates Diaspora

contributions to African studies.

African studies and KAS-SPN

Model

Knowledge-based African Society (KAS):

frameworks that use knowledge-based (KB)

techniques to support fundamentals of

knowledge of African societies and their

interactions with the rest of the world.

African studies and KAS-SPN

Model

KAS Scholarly-Practice-Networking model

Scholarly

Practice

Networking

Contributions to African

Studies

Influence national development

issues

Among African Diaspora

KAS-SPN Model: Guided by Various

Perspectives

• Knowledge Management:

Information-processing theory

Organizational learning theory

Knowledge creation

Dynamic capabilities

Resource-based theory of the society

• Human Capital (Scientists/Scholars);

• African Studies.

African Studies (1/2)

• Formulate original sets of problems grounded

in a solid appropriation of the international

intellectual legacy and deeply rooted in the

African experience;

• Final goal: an autonomous, self-reliant process

of knowledge production and capitalisation to

answer our own questions and meet both the

intellectual and the material needs of African

societies.

African Studies (2/2)

• Set of disciplines will certainly not have the

same meaning in Africa as in the West;

• Wider project: knowing oneself in order to

transform;

• Not be satisfied with just contributing to the

accumulation of knowledge about Africa;

• Develop first and foremost an Africa-based

tradition of knowledge in all disciplines.

KAS-SPN Chain Model

KAS-SPN Model: Outcomes

KAS-SPN

Model

Knowledge

Development

Dis

se

min

atio

n

Re

se

arc

h

Strategic Partnerships

• African Union;

• RECs;

• African research centers.

Methodology

• Research projects: African perspective;

• Knowledge sharing and capacities

development;

• Scientific products by African

scholars/scientists.

Discussions…