A contrapuntal epistemology for social work: An Afrocentric perspective

What is it about?

This article is about the state of social work knowledge which is dominated by the Eurocentric worldview to the exclusion of many alternative worldviews found in the rich diversity of cultures. We explored the implications of this state of affairs to the African context and found that a contrapuntal epistemology incorporating the African, Western and Asian perspectives would be most suited for the African context. The contrapuntal epistemology allows for the different wordviews to be used independently without a hierarchy and without any attempt to harmonize them.

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Why is it important?

This is indeed important and necessary in the post-colonial period where previously colonized nations are grappling with neocolonialism in its different facets. This articles also comes at a time in Africa and South Africa in particular, when student protests gained momentum demanding free, quality and decolonized higher education. This is precisely because, the education system remain dominated by Western ideas and conceptions despite the fall of colonialism many years back. Thus, it is vitally important that African scholarship engage critically with issues of curricular transformation that would redress past imbalances that silenced indigenous ways of knowing, being and power. The article is also important in its approach that sought to reposition Eurocentrism from the centre without completely dismissing it, while calling for centering of such knowledge on the African paradigm in Africa (Afrocentrism). This implies making Eurocentrism the centre in Europe and Afrocentrism in Africa leading o real cognitive justice. The article disapproves of the universalization tendencies within the Eurocentric paradigm, where a particular worldview originating in Europe has been made universal at the expense of its counterparts in other nations.

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