The Eurocentric World History: Deconstructing the Constructed African History in the Age of Globalization (original) (raw)

2019, Kaduna Journal of Humanities -A Publication of the Department of History, Kaduna State University, Nigeria

Poverty, corruption, bad leadership and violence among others have been identified as threats to the existence of the African race but none of these internal pathologies is more threatening than the Eurocentric construction of African history. While history gives a sense of belongingness, identity, belief and the historical processes needed to facilitate the productive capacity in a society as postulated by Karl Marx, African history has been maligned, denied, downplayed and to say the least, barbarically constructed through the machinations and neo-imperialistic grip of the world systems by the West, thereby weakening Africa’s indigenous knowledge and productive systems capable of facilitating its developmental aspirations. With little or no appreciable results recorded in Africa’s quest to deconstruct the western construction of its history, the deliberate denial of, and the barbaric construction of the African history by the West has negatively resulted in loss of faith in the historical uniqueness and productive capacity of Africa by the African people. This paper however concludes that the constant denigration and downplaying of African history by the West poses a greater threat to the continued existence of the African race than Africa’s domestic issues, and that unless conscious efforts are made to deconstruct the constructed African history by the West amongst its people, Africa’s development agenda may never see the light of the day. Keywords: Africa, African History, Constructed African History, Deconstructing the Eurocentric Construction of African History, Africa’s Development