By Dr. Mikhail Gromov

Can the African mind be decolonized? Can Africa be understood without a hint of post-colonial theory? These were the questions in the minds of participants during the VIII USIU Seminar on Post-Colonialism in Theory and Practice, held at the Library Conference room from March 2 to March 5.

Organized by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), the seminar shed more light on post-colonialism, its theoretical background and its impact on the current state of affairs, decades after colonization occurred in Africa.

The event saw various speakers take on different topics; Dr. Fatma Ali (Associate Professor of International Relations) gave an introduction to post-colonialism, while Dr. Mikhail Gromov (Assistant Professor of Literature) enlightened participants on the different theories that have developed post-colonialism. Prof. Macharia Munene (Professor of History and International Relations) gave an insight to post-colonialism in African politics, and Dr. Njoki Wamae (Assistant Professor of International Relations) expounded on the influence of post-colonialism on the theory of international relations.

In the discussions that followed the presentations the participants pointed out, that in the current l world of “global village” it is virtually for the African people impossible to avoid influences from other cultures, but this should not be a reason for nursing the mentality of inferiority and dependence, since the whole world now is multicultural and hybrid in nature. However, participants concluded that it is advisable for Africans to merge various cultures and adopt what will impact them positively. At the same time, many old and obsolete notions about the world hierarchy with regards to international relations and politics, social hierarchies with attentions to the state of women in the formerly colonized world should be revised, and post-colonial studies and theory render a remarkable assistance for that process.