ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the urgency and complexity of the problems and their importance to humanity. To solve these problems a knowledge and an insight are called for which can be acquired only by patient observation and study, and often by re-thinking ideas which may seem familiar to people with African experience. The International Institute of African Languages and Cultures was brought into existence to encourage such international co-operation. Its aims differ from those of existing institutions of anthropological and linguistic research in that it attempts to study not merely the facts of African life and society, but the process by which these are being transformed through the introduction of European civilization. The study of African institutions requires the cooperation of Africans, and from the beginning the Institute has endeavoured to obtain their collaboration. The chapter shows the connection between research and the practical interests of those who are taking an active part in the rapid transformation of the African continent.
