Knowledge, Education and Social Structure in Africa

edited by Shoko Yamada and Akira Takada

In searching for the potential that lies in African societies, the chapters of this volume consider relationships between knowledge, education and social structure from multiple angles, from a macro-continental scale to national education systems, schools and local communities. The themes that cut across the chapters include education as a mode of transmitting values, the contrasting effects of school credentials and knowledge for use, politics and interactions among people surrounding a school and knowledge acquisition as a subjective process. The rich empirical analyses suggest that the subjective commitment of, and mutuality among, people will make the acquired knowledge a powerful ‘tool for conviviality’ to realize a stable life, even given the turmoil created by rapid institutional and environmental changes that confront African societies.

Shoko Yamada

Shoko Yamada is professor of comparative education and African studies at the Applied Social System Institute, Nagoya University, Japan. She has conducted various researches on educational policy-making and implementation in Africa, both in the historical and present-day contexts. One of her consistent research focuses is the discourse around global policies and agendas and the ways they are adapted at the national levels.

Akira Takada

Akira Takada is Associate Professor of Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS) and the Center for African Area Studies (CAAS) at Kyoto University, Japan.