History, Education and Social Transformation in Africa

Abstract

Africa’s current socio-economic predicament is often solely attributed to political and economic mismanagement. However, such an analysis is far from comprehensive, as it fails to account for the historical, sociological and psychological causes of the current unsatisfactory social conditions in the continent. The paper seeks to present the role of history and education in Africa’s social transformation. Thereafter, the paper reflects on some apparent mental impediments to Africa’s social transformation, namely, conservatism, feeble social consciousness, and blind acceptance of the white-black dichotomy, and a fixation with foreign paradigms of managing public affairs. The paper calls for an interdisciplinary approach to the verifying, mitigating and/or eliminating of these impediments.

Key words: History, education, social transformation, Africa