AFROCENTRISM - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS - INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND SPIRITUAL

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

2.2 AFROCENTRISM

Though the term Afrocentrism or Afrocentricity emerged from academia, it has been used to refer to anything with an African motif such as clothing, jewellery or furniture.

According to Jackson (2003), the term has become a marketplace commodity used to sell almost anything targeted at African-Americans. On the academic front, the term has been adopted by various Disciplines such as history, sociology, anthropology, management, African studies, English, communication as well as social work. It has also been found to be influential in the current study which looks at the interface among African traditional religion, spirituality and social work. The existence of spiritual resources which were/are significant in times of illness, death, hunting and other social events piqued the researcher to look for a pro-African theory in the form of Afrocentricism / Afrocentricity.

Though Molefe Kete Asante is the founder and principal theorist of Afrocentrism and various authors have tried to define the term Afrocentrism. Afrocentricity literally means placing African ideas at the centre of any analysis that involves African culture and behaviours. According to Asante (2003:2) ―Afrocentricity is a mode of thought and action

in which the centrality of African interests, values, and perspective predominate‖.

Olaniyan (1992) views Afrocentrism as an ethnocentric ideology which places emphasis on things African, and attempts to give Africans their rightful place in the world. Asante (2009) further defines Afrocentrism/ Afrocentricity as a paradigm based on the idea that African people should re-assert a sense of agency in order to achieve unity. Karenga (1988:404) also defines Afrocentricity as a quality of perspective or approach which is rooted in the cultural image and human interest of African people.

The basic assumption in Afrocentricity is that Africans must determine their reality and world view. The origins of an Afrocentric world view are found in traditional African history before the advent of European and Arab influence. Afrocentrism is seen as a scholarly theory, paradigm, philosophy and ideology. As a theory, Afrocentrism places African people in the centre of any analysis of African phenomena. This paradigm has originated from African-American scholars who questioned Eurocentrism. From Asante‘s point of view, Afrocentrism asks the question “What would African people do if there were no white people?” Afrocentrism studies ideas, concepts, events, personalities and political and economic processes from a Black, African perspective. It enthrones the centrality of the African, which is Black, African ideas, values as expressed in the highest form of African culture.

A study interrogating the influence of African traditional religion and spirituality in understanding chronic illnesses, therefore, deserves to have Afrocentrism as one of its theoretical tenets. This study is grounded in an Afrocentric framework. As a theoretical framework, Afrocentricity provides a platform for interpreting characteristics of African life from an African perspective. Afrocentrism questions Eurocentric studies that seek

ungrounded aggrandisement by claiming universal hegemony (Asante, 1990). However, Ince (2009) claims that to subscribe to Afrocentricity does not exclude other theoretical frameworks hence the use of the strengths perspective and the transpersonal theory.

Afrocentrism is generally opposed to theories that dislocate Africans to the periphery of human thought and experience (van Wyk, 2014).

Closely related to Afrocentrism are the terms Africanity and Africology. According to Asante (1998), Africanity refers to all the customs, traditions and traits of Africans and the African Diaspora. Africology on the other hand denotes the Afrocentric study of African concepts, issues and behaviours. Africology is the trans-generational and transcontinental study of African people. It is, therefore, important to note that to be African does not necessarily mean one is Afrocentric. Eurocentric ideology masquerades as a universal view in many fields such as philosophy, linguistics, psychology, education and anthropology. According to Asante (1998), Afrocentricity is about taking the globe and turning it over so that we see all the possibilities of a world where Africa is a subject and not an object. Africans who deny their Africanity should be condemned as anti-blacks, un-black blacks, who as a result of their mentacide, have become racist against themselves (Asante, 1998).

According to Williams (1981), Afrocentricity has four values: the Afrocentric cosmology, the Afrocentric axiology, the Afrocentric ontology and the Afrocentric epistemology. The Afrocentric cosmology refers to a world view that is the foundation of African thinking, beliefs, perceptions and values. The Afrocentric axiology is a value system that serves as the foundation for African belief and what Africans are willing to struggle for. The Afrocentric ontology emphasises African collective identity, collective struggle and

collective destiny. Lastly the Afrocentric epistemology stresses the importance of understanding African history, heritage, and culture to acquire the knowledge needed to develop to the fullest potential as a people and achieve liberation.

When the West colonised Africa, there was a total distortion of African values. This is evidenced by Chukwuoko (n.d:31) who reiterates that ―……imperialism bequeathed Africans with two main unforgettable experiences, namely the denial of African identity and the tendentious imposition of Western thoughts and cultural realities and perceptions‖. Furthermore Edwards, Makunga, Thwala and Mbele (2009:1) note that

―Converging lines of recent evidence from various disciplines such as genetics, linguistics, palaeontology and archaeology all point consistently to Africa as the cradle of civilisation for all humanity, with homo sapiens evolving some one hundred and fifty thousand years ago and gradually emigrating across the Sinai Peninsula some fifty thousand years later‖.

2.2.1 Meta-theory of Afrocentric Stance in Social Work

Before social work was established as a formal profession, all countries had their own ways of handling social issues and of protecting and caring for their vulnerable members (Kreitzer, Abukai, Antonia, Mensah & Kwaku, 2009). Avendal (2011) notes that in Ghana for example, social issues were matters of the traditional system, a social institution of extended family members and traditional authorities. The introduction of Christianity, urbanisation and globalisation has contributed to extensive alterations in the traditional social systems and order. Traditional helping processes were affected as people moved to urban centres and life became individualistic as opposed to communal. Due to the spread of Christianity, some traditional ways of managing

diseases have been relegated as evil. Instead of strengthening the traditional support system, colonial powers introduced Western social work to solve the problems which they had created (Avendal, 2011). African traditional religion and other forms of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) have not been spared by this hegemony. Major ways of knowing and ways of understanding in Africa became shaped by Western philosophy.

The ability to see from several angles is a common weakness of Eurocentric scholarship. Before renaissance, African indigenous knowledge systems and other human civilisations that were condemned as backward and relegated as irrational were and are still viable for human utilisation (Viriri & Mungwini, 2010). Much of what constitutes Africa, both metaphysically and epistemologically, is to a large extent, a product of Eurocentric hegemony.

Before the coming of the whites, Africans were not devoid of spiritual resources.

Traditional African societies believed in a higher power. According to Asante (1990), Afrocentricity seeks to convey the need for African people to be relocated historically, economically, socially, politically and philosophically. Asante (2003) argues that

―Afrocentricity as a theory of change intends to relocate African people as subjects thus destroying the notion of being objects in the Western project of domination‖. Schiele (1996) propounds that, Afrocentricity has three objectives: it seeks to promote an alternative social science paradigm which is more reflective of the cultural and political reality of African people; it seeks to dispel the negative distortions about people of African ancestry by legitimising and disseminating a world-view that goes back thousands of years and that exists in the hearts and minds of people of African descent;

lastly, it seeks to promote a world-view that will facilitate human and societal transformation towards spiritual, moral and humanistic ends and that will provide people of various cultural and ethnic groups with a common understanding.

Afrocentrism acknowledges and underscores the importance of spirituality and non- material aspects of people of African origin. According to Ince (2009), Afrocentricity is based on a unique understanding of African philosophy that concentrates on classical African civilisations as a starting point of any conceptualisation of African people and their history.

Afrocentrism is opposed to theories that dislocate Africans to the periphery of human thought and experience. Afrocentrists believe that Eurocentricity has become an ethnocentric view which elevates the European experience and downgrades all other experiences. According to Asante (2003) ―Afrocentricity is not the reverse of Eurocenticity but a particular perspective for analysis which does not seek to occupy all space and time as Eurocentricity has often done‖. Afrocentricity aims to see all cultural centres respected.

Given the Afrocentric philosophy, it is necessary to examine all data from the standpoint of Africans as subjects and human agents rather than as objects in the European frame of reference (Asante, 2003). According to Asante (2003), Afrocentricity is not colour- conscious, it is not colour that matters but culture. Colonialism rendered Africans an epitome of barbarism, morons, primitives and sexual perverts among other binary oppositions (Viriri & Mungwini, 2010). It seemed as if whites discovered/ invented Africa against Africans themselves. Africa was forced to imbibe and accept values and cultures of her colonisers. Political subjugation traumatised Africans that many of them lost

confidence in and looked down upon their culture. Western thought dominated by Christianity created hierarchical structure of world religions implying that certain religions were inferior to others. This forced most of them to view and embrace Christianity and Islam as a progressive though they did not completely lose their old cosmology or basic beliefs. As a result of colonialism, Africans have been victimised by cultural denigration which has been manifested in all areas of life which include religion and spirituality (Schiele, 1996).

Afrocentricity opens avenues for understanding the contributions that Africans have made to the world history and to the development of knowledge. One importance of Afrocentrism is that it serves as an alternative approach to understanding and analysing African communities. Asante (2006) argues that many African-American scholars are victims of the hegemonic influences of their teachers and are caught in a stifling bind.

2.2.2 Afrocentrism and Indigenous Belief Systems

An essential element of Afrocentrism is that it recognises the centrality of spirituality in the lives of African people. All aspects, whether animate or inanimate, are considered to be interwoven. In a typical African society, the neediest members of the group are given support through spiritual bonding. The spiritual bonding among Africans predisposes them to helping one another. The individual is thus not complete without others.

There is a need for an African understanding of religion and an understanding of African religion (Awolalu, 1976). Figl (2003) contends that the term religion is Eurocentric and consequently, scholars have a tendency to westernise African religion and spirituality. In African religion, people frequently consult ancestors for advice on daily decisions. This

sense of dependence provides people with comfort and security (Chavunduka, 2001).

This advice from ancestors helps people cope with the struggles and stresses in their lives.

Unlike other religions, ATR has no founders or reformers or missionaries who try to propagate it. According to Awolalu (1976:2) it seems as if there were theorists who had never been to Africa but who regarded it as a dark continent where people had no idea of God and where the devil is in his abysmal, grotesque self-dwelt. Before Africans could read and write, there was a ―period of ignorance and false certainty‖ in the study of ATR (Awolalu, 1976). Some scholars and Christian proselytes doubted whether or not the God worshipped in ATR is a real God.

2.2.3 Weakness of Afrocentricity in Academic Discourse Analysis

Afrocentricity is criticised on the grounds that it does not allow for cultural change.

Critics of the theory argue that being African today also means being partly European as a result of colonisation and globalisation. Afrocentrism has also been blamed as reverse Eurocentrism. Asante (1988; 1990) argues that Afrocentrism seeks to replace one geo- political hegemonic centre, which is Europe, with another hegemonic centre, which is Africa. However, Afrocentrism is non-hegemonic and welcomes the existence of a multiplicity of cultural centres. Reinhardt (2011:86) criticises Afrocentrism as a ―bad‖

science, pseudo-science, a parody of science that qualifies as something like science only by a series of institutional framework conditions and formal compliance. Despite its criticisms, Afrocentricity‘s growing influence in social work is undeniable (Graham, 1999;

Pellebon, 2007). According to Reinhardt (2011), if one criticises Afrocentricity one runs the risk of being labelled racist on the one hand while on the other hand silence means

conceding to the dictates of Afrocentrists. Some critics argue that Afrocentrism tends to make the African centre absolute in that it privileges it over other centres. However, Asante (1990) asserts that the theoretical draft acknowledges centric pluralisms without hierarchy and without seeking hegemony. Proponents of Afrocentrism, however, argue that equal to Afrocentric perspective on the world view are Asiocentric, Americocentric and Eurocentric perspectives. One centricity should, therefore, recognise other centricities. Afrocentricity has been criticised for failure to apply empirical methods to examine its central constructs.

2.2.4 Afrocentric Social Work

Schiele (1997) defines Afrocentric social work as a method of social work practice which is based on traditional African philosophical assumptions that are used to explain and solve human societal problems. Afrocentricity is described as both a social work theory and a perspective though it is popularly used among African- American clients. The primary objective of Afrocentricity is to liberate the research and study of African people from the hegemony of Eurocentric scholarship. According to Williams (1993:2), ―an Afrocentric perspective is congruent with the values and ethics promulgated by the social work profession: the right to self-determination; the emphasis on strengths rather than weaknesses; and the appreciation and value of all human experiences‖. Schiele (1997) identifies three fundamental assumptions of Afrocentric social work: individual identity is hinged on a collective identity; the spiritual aspect of human is as legitimate as the material aspect; and that the effective approach to knowledge is epistemologically valid. It is implied, in Afrocentric social work, that one cannot affect

one member of the society without affecting others. In Africa, there is no clear separation between an individual and others (Ubuntu).

Afrocentric social work believes that if there is more emphasis on spiritual development, there will be less social problems and human misery. Afrocentric social work acknowledges the linear materialistic understanding of reality and also draws heavily on the affective and holistic means of knowing and understanding the world. Afrocentrists do not believe in social science universalism. Ethical social workers use the most current and verifiable knowledge base, resources and skills for competent practice.

Afrocentricity has been used as a perspective in social work practice with African- American clients (Graham, 2006; 2007; Miley, O‘Melia & DuBois, 2007). Pellebon (2007), writing in the context of America, argues that a non-Afrocentrist, regardless of race or scholarship, is incapable of developing knowledge that accurately represents the African experiences of self-determination.

According to Ross (2010), Afrocentric social work‘s educational curricula should be respectful and appreciative of African worldviews even if this runs counter to the social workers‘ value systems. She went on to indicate that the educational curricula should expose students to traditional healers and leaders so that graduates may work in unison with them and include them in their referral systems. African languages are very critical in Afrocentric social work. Thabede (2005) argues that it is important for social workers to be able to communicate through at least one African language. They are supposed to understand its proverbs, idioms and avoidance of taboo topics.

Indigenous theories of help-seeking should be acknowledged in Afrocentric social work.

These include family members, the community, traditional leaders and neighbours.

Central to African life is the concept of Ubuntu (living through others). Social workers should thus understand traditional social safety nets (Ross, 2010). In Afrocentric social work, social research should also focus on traditional cultural practices. Afrocentric social workers are also encouraged to familiarise themselves with the material cultures of African communities (Thabede, 2005). These include clothing, shelter and food, among other things. Beliefs central to African life should also be recognised. These include the belief in witchcraft, ancestors and the Supreme Being. Social workers should also understand traditional cultural rituals such as circumcision and passage rituals. Afrocentricity will continue to evolve as more information on African people comes to light and as greater demands are placed on African people (Bangura, 2012).

Afrocentrists seek advocacy agency in every given place where examination, critique or analysis of African people happens (Asante, 2014).

Dalam dokumen INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN UNDERSTANDING CHRONIC ILLNESSES AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: A CASE OF CHIWESHE COMMUNAL LANDS IN ZIMBABWE (Halaman 50-60)