Ignoring the Obvious About the World

Four Kinds of Not Knowing in African Studies

Authors

  • Helen Tilley Northwestern University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55283/jhk.19473

Keywords:

colonialism, Africa, ignorance, anthropology, knowledge, medicine

Abstract

This essay takes up four kinds of “not knowing” that have been central to knowledge-making in African Studies. I chose ignorance and African history to open a dialogue with the other authors in this issue. The essay deals with therapeutic non-systems, cultural ignorance, disappearing knowledge, and sovereign forms of community care. It uses a now-classic article by Murray Last, on the health-seeking practices of Hausa speakers in northern Nigeria in the 1960s and 1970s, as its anchor. Embedded in the essay is a tacit question about the history of anarchic modes of collective organization in places under-served by states.

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Author Biography

  • Helen Tilley, Northwestern University

    Helen Tilley is an associate professor in the History Department at Northwestern University with courtesy appointments in Anthropology and the Pritzker School of Law. Her research examines medical, environmental, and human sciences in colonial and post-colonial Africa, including their synergies with legal, economic, and global history.

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Published

2024-12-20

Issue

Vol. 5 (2024)

Section

Forum

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Helen Tilley

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.