Africa Through Structuration Theory ? ntu

Despite all the talk about African renaissance, much of the continent is plagued by poverty and instability. To break out of that cycle, the guardians of African heritage (the old independence freedom fighters turned political leaders and their successors) and much of Afrocentric literature rightly promote African ideas and solutions for African problems. While the idea in itself is noble, the danger is for Africa to close itself off and ignore "outside" technical and intellectual innovations that it desperately needs to advance further. Africa through Structuration Theory - ntu joins the discourse by attempting to restore intellectual freedom and convincingly defends structuration theory not only as the way forward for Africa but also as a legitimate African concept. It is innovative, refreshing and deserves to be heard across the world and appreciated especially by African graduates, current and future leaders of various African institutions or businesses, non-Africans who might hesitate to refer to such a theory when trying to understand and deal with African problems and the wider public who constitute the audience for this book.

Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Acknowledgement -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Préface -- Chapter 1 -- 'African-Centred leadership' and the theory of structuration: a response to Obiakor -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Obiakor and the African-centred education for Africancentred leadership: a review -- Giddens' theory of structuration -- A new perspective for Africa using Giddens' structuration theory -- Conclusion -- Comments to the Author: Reviewer 1 -- Reviewer: 2 Comments to the Author -- Chapter 2 -- Structure and agency: (an issue of trust?) -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Structure -- Agency -- Trust: the go between -- Crisis of trust? -- Duality of structures -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 -- Duality of structures: a (not THE) methodology -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Ontology -- Epistemology -- Methodology -- Ethical issues and dilemmas -- Chapter 4 -- Double de-contextualisation: a methodological myth or reality? -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Defining the term (s) of reference and rational -- When (double) de-contextualisation is most common -- Knowledge and context: between durability and complexity/temporality -- 'Double de-contextualisation': a positioni…