Shaped as much by fractures, uncertainties and changes in contemporary social and
political life, the current dilapidation of the South African national archival system is a more …

Historical research is largely dependent on archives. Archives are the primary raw materials
for historical research. In fact, archives are regarded as the lifeblood of historical research. 1 …

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past... Past
events... have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human …

This article examines the ways in which the disciplines of history and archaeology in South
Africa relate and how they have negotiated the public as part of their disciplinary practices of …

The long southern African past before the advent of European colonialism remains
neglected despite powerful post-apartheid impulses of various kinds for its recovery and …

In post-colonial societies especially there 'has been a growing recognition that western
archival science and practice reflect and reinforce a privileging of settler/invader/colonist …

The struggle against apartheid and the building of democracy has worked, and continues to
work, fundamental changes in the sphere of social memory. And, increasingly, the manifold …

Inspired by my experiences in archives and research fields in Northern Nigeria, this essay
analyzes four overlapping phenomena: archival fragmentation, the politicization of data and …

In 1992, in a dramatic address to the American Association of African Studies, the
pioneering figure in the study of African oral traditions, Jan Vansina, identified what he …

Let me start by commending the conveners of the seminar series for organising what I
regard as an intriguing range of talks, themes and speakers. Quite clearly, judging from the …