MACMILLAN The Palgrave Handbook of Media and Communication Research in Africa

This handbook attempts to fill the gap in empirical scholarship of media and communication research in Africa, from an Africanist perspective. The collection draws on expert knowledge of key media and communication scholars in Africa and the diaspora, offering a counter-narrative to existing Western and Eurocentric discourses of knowledge-production. As the decolonial turn takes centre stage across Africa, this collection further rethinks media and communication research in a post-colonial setting and provides empirical evidence as to why some of the methods conceptualised in Europe will not work in Africa. The result is a thorough appraisal of the current threats, challenges and opportunities facing the discipline on the continent. Review “The authors challenge the ‘Western colonized’ epistemology underlying the teaching and research of media and communication in Africa...many critical questions are asked, the need for decolonization is emphasised and motivated, and the ‘ferment in the field’ debate and discourse is continued from an African experience, interpretation and perspective. In the process the book also becomes a rich and valuable source of information about the actual practice and use of media and mediated communication in Africa.” (Pieter J. Fourie, Emeritus Professor and Research Fellow in Communication Science, University of South Africa, South Africa, and Lifelong Fellow of the South Africa Communication Association, SACOMM) “This volume grapples with fascinating philosophical, ontological, epistemological and methodological questions from the nascent field of African media and communication. Rethinking methods for media research from an African perspective is a necessary political and emancipatory exercise. The essays in the volume achieve two main objectives: First they critique and overturn uncritical assumptions and prescriptions that have seen those researching media and communication uncritical adopt Western concepts such as gender. Secondly, and unlike most books, the volume rethinks and offers alternative methods and immerses itself in African knowledge systems such as Ubuntu to do meaningful research on realities of life in Africa.” (Winston Mano, Reader and Director of the African Media Centre, University of Westminster, UK) “Bruce Mutsvairo’s brilliantly edited analysis of Palgrave Handbook of Media and Communication Research in Africa is rich, intellectually astute, deeply knowledgeable and finely detailed. This book offers a very compelling analysis and it is essentially a must read. It is tightly argued and well-organised. If you care about the future of media research in Africa, you must read this book. It is an admirably excellent piece of work to be honest.” (Brian Chama, Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, Toronto, Canada, and author of Tabloid Journalism in Africa, 2017) From the Back Cover This handbook attempts to fill the gap in empirical scholarship of media and communication research in Africa, from an Africanist perspective. The collection draws on expert knowledge of key media and communication scholars in Africa and the diaspora, offering a counter-narrative to existing Western and Eurocentric discourses of knowledge-production. As the decolonial turn takes centre stage across Africa, this collection further rethinks media and communication research in a post-colonial setting and provides empirical evidence as to why some of the methods conceptualised in Europe will not work in Africa. The result is a thorough appraisal of the current threats, challenges and opportunities facing the discipline on the continent. About the Author Bruce Mutsvairo is Associate Professor in Journalism Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.