Navigating Epistemological Tensions: A Critical Analysis of African Studies Discourses in Rwanda

{ "background": "The academic field of African Studies is characterised by ongoing epistemological debates concerning decolonisation, knowledge production, and the integration of indigenous epistemes. Within this global discourse, the specific manifestations and local negotiations of these tensions within national contexts require deeper contextual analysis.", "purpose and objectives": "This study aimed to critically analyse the key epistemological tensions and discursive practices shaping the field of African Studies within a specific national higher education context. Its objectives were to identify dominant discourses, analyse how local scholars navigate competing knowledge claims, and examine the implications for community development praxis.", "methodology": "A qualitative, critical discourse analysis was employed. Data were generated through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with academic staff and postgraduate researchers, supplemented by documentary analysis of university curricula and key policy texts. Thematic analysis was conducted using a constructivist epistemological framework.", "findings": "Analysis revealed a dominant theme of 'pragmatic negotiation', where scholars strategically blend Eurocentric theoretical frameworks with Rwandan historical and cultural referents to satisfy institutional and global academic demands. A significant proportion of participants (approximately 70%) expressed a perceived dissonance between the liberatory aims of African Studies and the instrumentalist development agendas prevalent in national policy.", "conclusion": "The study concludes that the Rwandan case illustrates a complex, situated epistemology where global academic discourses are actively mediated by local institutional and political realities. This results in a hybridised scholarly practice that simultaneously challenges and accommodates dominant knowledge systems.", "recommendations": "It is recommended that academic institutions support structured spaces for epistemic dialogue and develop curricula that more explicitly centre endogenous knowledge systems. Funding bodies should incentivise research methodologies that prioritise community-based participatory approaches aligned with local epistemologies.", "key words": "epistemology, African Studies, decolonisation, discourse analysis, higher education, knowledge production, Rwanda", "contribution statement": "This paper provides a novel, context-specific analysis of epistemic negotiations, offering a nuanced model of 'pragmatic hybridity' that advances understanding of how