This thesis researches how and why the UNESCO sponsored General History of Africa (1964-1998) sought to Africanise and decolonise the writing of African history in the wake of the political... Show moreThis thesis researches how and why the UNESCO sponsored General History of Africa (1964-1998) sought to Africanise and decolonise the writing of African history in the wake of the political independence of many West and East African countries in the early 1960s. It provides a case-study on the practice of African historiography in the second half of the twentieth century. The thesis investigates how formulated ideals of a decolonisation were translated into practice and analyses what this might tell us about the establishment of African history within the humanities and the history of decolonising knowledge production. The study is divided in three parts: the first part concerns the formulated ideals of African history as they came into being in opposition to eurocentrism during the 1960s and early 1970s. Part two shifts the focus to the realities of the ideals discussed in part one. How did the historians of the GHA try to bring their ideals into practice and what came of them during the long process of drafting the GHA? The third and final part of the thesis focuses on the reception and retrospective perception of the project in its final years and after it was finished. Show less
At least since the late twentieth century, historians of science have discussed the skills, character and virtues that make for good scholarship. Different virtues have been emphasized by different... Show moreAt least since the late twentieth century, historians of science have discussed the skills, character and virtues that make for good scholarship. Different virtues have been emphasized by different authors. These virtues include love of truth, impartiality and imagination. In my study I look at virtues of scholarship in the practice of everyday scholarly life, such as collaborating on a text edition, editing a scholarly journal and evaluating one’s peers in book reviews and letters of recommendation.I take a close look at peer networks of leading late nineteenth-century German academics. I mostly focus on the orientalist Theodor Nöldeke, the experimental psychologist Wilhelm Wundt and the bacteriologists Robert Koch and Emil Behring. This interdisciplinary perspective allows me to identify virtues shared by scholars with very different intellectual backgrounds who use different methods to study different matters.My research shows that loyal collegiality and critical independence were the virtues that were central to all practices of scholarship across all disciplines. The relations between these virtues, however, were complicated. Academics continuously struggled to balance loyalty and independence vis-à-vis each other, institutions of scholarship, the state and the private sector, in what is best described as a moral economy of scholarship. Show less