December 2005 • Anthropology News 9 IN FOCUS MWENDA NTARANGWI AUGUSTANA C W ith some reflection on the excitement and uncertainties that surrounded our entrance into the new millenni- um, we may now take a deep breath and consider again the question posed in 1995 by James Peacock in his AAA presidential address. In that address Peacock asked, “what will happen to anthropology” once the 20th century—the first and thus far only full century of professional anthropology—concludes? It is perhaps time to revisit this question. Doing so, I suggest that anthropology is not only alive and well but also poised to survive anoth- er century. Yet I cannot say that anthropology has become a global discipline; there are not departments of anthropology in all—or even most—universities in the so-called global South as there are, say, depart- ments of economics, sociology or history. Why not? To begin a response to that question, I focus on the future of anthropology in Africa, a continent central to the production of anthropological knowledge since the discipline’s humble beginnings in the late 19th century. Although ample case studies have been drawn by anthropologists from parts of Africa, anthropology has simply never quite taken root in African institutions the same ways it has in the Northern states of the Atlantic. Moreover, very few students, if any, know anything about anthropology before or even after college. University-employed African an- thropologists make very little money as professors. This is why many of them populate the field of applied anthropology, especially in areas per- taining to health (HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health, and nutri- tion), conflict resolution and natural resource management, often in the form of NGO directorships or as paid consultants. This employment out- side the academy has meant that fewer anthropologists are fully com- mitted to the academy. and have instituted local ways of dealing with the challenges. In the department of archaeology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a diploma program on cultural resources management and tourism, was introduced in 2002 to tap a grow- ing demand for trained personnel in Nigeria’s ever-growing material cul- ture industry. In its second year the program was oversubscribed and many applicants had to be turned away. At the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, anthropology has found its popularity through “practical” courses that address immediate needs of the South African society, such as race relations, conflict resolution and tourism devel- opment. At the University of Zim- babwe, even though anthropology falls under the sociology department, the only doctoral degrees completed in the department (a total of six in the past ten years) have all been in anthropology because of its emphasis on development and social change. What then is the future of anthro- pology in Africa? I propose that it is in collaborative work. The recent forma- tion of the World Council of Anthropological Associations and the growing push among anthropolo- gists to engage with globalization is an opportunity for the profession to develop internationally. One way of doing this is to develop and sustain meaningful collaboration, which would enable the exchange of ideas and resources and begin to globalize the discipline. The collaboration that the Association for Africanist An- thropology (AfAA) and Pan African Anthropology Association have start- ed (see AfAA section news in the May 2005 AN) is one example in that direction. The other avenue for such collaboration is through the Internet. The use of the Internet to access scholarly material that AAA members have through Anthrosource is a project worth duplicating in Africa and col- laborating within as Internet access continues to improve. ■ AN Mwenda Ntarangwi (sontarangwi@ augustana.edu) teaches cultural anthropolo- gy at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. His forthcoming edited book (with David Mills and Mustafa Babiker) entitled African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice addresses past and current challenges of anthropology in Africa. African Anthropology Struggling Along Institute of Social Research; and in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast anthropology is taught within sociol- ogy departments. This structural arrangement—together with a poor- ly-funded system of higher educa- tion—accounts for this dearth of anthropology in Africa. Survival and Legitimacy Anyone studying the practice and history of anthropology in Africa is often faced with the daunting task of determining not only the poten- tial means of its survival but also At the University of Ghana, Legon, anthropology is taught within the Institute of African Studies. Indeed, very few African universities have departments of anthro- pology, partly accounting for a dearth of anthropology by Africans in Africa. grappling with its legitimacy. Discussion about anthropology’s complicit involvement in the poli- cies and practices of colonialism has continued to loom over its short history in Africa. Add to this the struggles most African anthro- pologists face in trying to legitimize themselves and their work against the more established and accepted disciplines in the social sciences such as economics, history or soci- ology, and you will see the enormi- ty of the challenge. Given that few students in Africa get to attend university at all and fewer still could even dream of grad- uate school, most students want to select majors at the undergraduate level that will help them get a job. In Kenya, for instance, this selection of a major is done while in high school since students must apply to the specific department or program in which they want to study. It becomes difficult for these students to switch majors once they have matriculated at the university. The Future in Africa? These challenges notwithstanding, anthropology continues—and should continue—to have value and efficacy in Africa, especially today when many communities in Africa are faced with rapid structur- al and economic changes. Anthro- pology and the specific skills it brings are necessary in understand- ing complex social and cultural responses to the scourge of HIV/ AIDS, genocide, ethnic tension, politics and rapid Westernization. Anthropologists must continue to document, explain and highlight the social, cultural and political changes brought by the now wide- spread neoliberal system of eco- nomic and political management spreading throughout Africa. This will not happen, however, unless anthropology is developed to its full potential. Many African anthropologists understand the important contribution they can make to the current sociocultural challenges and changes facing Africa Very Few Departments It is quite ironic that while there is lots of anthropological work on Africa not much anthropology is going on in Africa by Africans. African universities are themselves struggling to stay alive: they have very few departments of anthropolo- gy and many African anthropolo- gists who do not leave their home countries for Europe or North America end up serving in other departments. At both the University of Nairobi in Kenya and University of Ghana, Legon, for instance, anthropology is taught within the Institute of African Studies; at Makerere University in Uganda, most anthropologists work at the COMMENTARY