Reflections on the need for decolonisation: A glimpse into the Kenyan education system
An introduction When positioning oneself in the complex debate on decolonisation, it is vital to acknowledge to what extent the control of knowledge generation and cultivation has remained a tool that maintains asymmetrical global power structures. In the study of the politics of knowledge, the monopoly that th
What makes a crisis?
A crisis podcast! Mini Assignment 2, course Researching Africa in the 21st century, October 2023 By Frederike Bonekamp & Laura Eppinga To investigate the true meaning of crisis thinking, Frederike Bonekamp and I made a podcast about the visibility of crisis thinking about Africa in documentaries about clima
Crisis Thinking – Free Money (2022) Documentary
Free Money is a 2022 documentary that was made available on Netflix on September 1, 2023. It explores an experiment supported by the charity GiveDirectly (one of the fastest growing non-profits of the 21st century), conducted in the Kenyan village of Kogutu. In this experiment, residents over the age of 18 had
The Ultimate Commercialisation of Crisis Thinking: Letting Them Play the (White) Saviours
Crisis thinking in the media is very common when it comes to Africa. This type of reporting prioritises urgency over a considered response and can have negative consequences. Assuming a crisis leads to deepening of a problem, rather than finding a solution. Crisis thinking adds to and upholds the narrative of A
Save The Children: Crisis Thinking
In this mini documentary, Evelien and I (Hilde) had a closer look at a video published by Save the Children to ask for donations for fighting malnutrition in Somalia. We discuss crisis thinking, harmful discourses, a white saviour complex, and commodification of the black body. Our question remains: How ethical
Decolonizing Cape Town’s University : the “Rhodes must fall” student protest.
Decolonizing public spaces is a crucial initiative that aims to create a more inclusive environment accessible to all, regardless of their origin, gender, social class, religion, or other personal characteristics. It’s about tackling the historical inequalities and discriminations that have permeated publ
It’s still in the museums.
The colonized way of returning objects. On the 10th of September 2020, a group of activists, headed by Mwazulu Diyabanza, walked into the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal. Inside Diyabanza took one of the wooden funerary statues that were on display. This statue, as Diyabanza claimed, was stolen from Africa
Traces of Colonialism in our Cities
The spaces we live in can hold many memories. Ancient sites have attracted humans throughout the ages, and people often reminisce about places they inhabited in the past. As a historian, i have always looked at the places i have lived through the lens of the past, who lived here before me? what happened on [&he
Beloved and hated, what does the future hold for Jan van Riebeeck’s statue in Cape Town, South Africa?
Mini Assignment 1, course Researching Africa in the 21st Century, September 2023 By Laura Eppinga and Frederike Bonekamp Even though apartheid was abolished in 1994, colonisation and apartheid remain visible in South African society. Colonial figures, such as Jan van Riebeeck, are represented in the physical sp