Afrocentrism

Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes

By: Stephen Howe

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Paperback | 17 August 1999 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
352 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
24.13 x 15.88 x 2.54

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A vigorous challenge to the Afrocentric rewriting of African history. For centuries, racist, colonial and Eurocentric bias has blocked or distorted knowledge of Africans, their histories and cultures. The challenge to that bias has been one of the greatest intellectual transformations of the late twentieth century. But alongside this challenge has arisen a counter mythology, proclaiming the innate superiority of African-descended peoples. In this provocative study, Stephen Howe powerfully argues that this Afrocentric movement is guilty of reproducing all the central features of the outmoded Euro-racist scholarship. Offering a mostly fictional history of Africa and its Diaspora, centered on bizarre ideas about ancient Egypt, Howe argues that Afrocentrism is a symptom of, rather than a cure for, desperate political and economic problems. In Afrocentrism, Howe traces the sources and ancestries of the movement, and closely analyses the writings of its leading proponents including Molefi Asante and the legendary Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop. Martin Bernal's contribution is also assessed. Hard-hitting yet subtle and scholarly in its appraisal of Afrocentric ideas, and based on wide-ranging research in the histories both of Afro-America and of Africa itself, Afrocentrism not only demolishes the mythical "history" taught by black ultra-nationalists but suggests paths towards a true historical consciousness of Africa and its Diaspora.

Industry Reviews

"precise and courageous ... Howe's book is a landmark." - Brian Appleyard, Sunday Times "a spirited, meticulously researched polemic ... with unrelenting energy and intellectual rigour, Howe traces the history and development of Afrocentric ideas." - Kate Teltscher, Guardian "Stephen Howe's candid book goes right to the heart of one of the most vexing of contemporary America's problems ... a great service for all who are interested in the intellectual study of race and racism in the US." - Caryl Phillips, Financial Times "Howe has done a signal service by exposing one region of this subterranean world to the light of reason." - Anthony Daniels, Spectator

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Non-Fiction History Regional & National History African History History Theory & Methods Historiography Biographies & True Stories Biographies Sociology & Anthropology Specific Events & Topics in History Oral History

Acknowledgements
A Note on Language, Terminology and Sources
Introduction	p. 1
Ancestors and Influences
Race: What's in a Name?	p. 19
Pan-Africanism and Negritude	p. 23
African Origins and the Claim of Primacy	p. 28
Diasporic Images of Africa before Afrocentrism	p. 35
The Birth of Afrocentrism	p. 59
The Masonic Connection	p. 66
Caribbean Currents	p. 73
Afro-America as Nation, and as Internal Colony	p. 87
African Cultures and the New World	p. 101
Visions of History
Hamites, Semites and Statue-Stealers	p. 115
The Lure of Egypt	p. 122
Nubia and 'Inner Africa': the Ideological Uses of African State-Building	p. 138
African Unity and African Philosophy	p. 156
Cheikh Anta Diop	p. 163
Martin Bernal	p. 193
Afrocentrism in the Present
Wild Afrocentricity	p. 215
Molefi Asante: Godfather of Afrocentrism	p. 230
The Network, the School and the Fellow-Travellers	p. 240
Afrocentrism and Science	p. 259
Psychology, Race and Magic Melanin	p. 265
Polemics and Prejudices: Sex, Race, Religion and Afrocentrism	p. 275
Bibliography	p. 287
Index	p. 327
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Afrocentrism

Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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