ABSTRACT
In its historical dimension, the concept of Africanization, has served a descriptive or interpretative role aimed at explaining how African societies have been affected by their contact with non-African societies and vice-versa. In its normative dimension, the concept of Africanization is used to address the destruction of African cultures and values through the processes of slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism. In this chapter, author explains how these two dimensions of the concept of Africanization have appeared in academic and policy discussions. He provides a few examples of these uses in an attempt to illustrate that even though the goals pursued within these two contexts are different, their usefulness and relevance depends largely on being able to rely on one another. The basic premise underlining normative uses of the concept of Africanization states that European systems of knowledge and European institutions cannot adequately guide the exploration of African realities and cannot serve the needs of African peoples.
