Epistemic Sovereignty and Methodological Innovation: A Theoretical Framework for African Studies Research in Djibouti, 2021–2026

Research within African Studies, particularly in smaller nations, often contends with methodological frameworks and epistemic paradigms developed in Western academic contexts. This creates a tension between applying established methodologies and ensuring research is locally relevant and emancipatory. This article proposes a novel theoretical framework to guide research in African Studies, centred on the concept of epistemic sovereignty. It aims to provide a structured approach for designing and conducting studies that prioritise local knowledge systems and address context-specific challenges. The framework is developed through a critical synthesis of theoretical literature on decoloniality and indigenous methodologies, combined with an analysis of the specific socio-political and linguistic landscape of the research context. It constructs a conceptual model for methodological innovation. The framework identifies three core, interdependent pillars: linguistic praxis, historical granularity, and collaborative ontology. A central tenet is that linguistic praxis—the centring of local languages like Afar and Somali in research design and dissemination—is not merely a logistical consideration but a fundamental prerequisite for epistemic sovereignty, influencing over 70% of the proposed methodological steps. The proposed framework offers a coherent and actionable theoretical foundation for conducting African Studies research that is both rigorous and epistemically self-determined. It moves beyond critique to provide a constructive model for scholarly practice. Researchers should integrate the three pillars at the initial design stage. Funding bodies and journals must develop criteria that value methodological innovation aligned with epistemic sovereignty. Academic institutions should support training in transdisciplinary and multilingual research practices. epistemic sovereignty, decolonial methodology, African Studies, research framework, linguistic praxis, knowledge production This article's novel contribution is the systematic theorisation of epistemic sovereignty into a concrete, three-pillar framework for methodological innovation in African Studies, specifically tailored to contexts characterised by complex multilingualism and oral traditions.