Open research questions in African cultural and philosophical studies

What the literature leaves open

• The challenge of addressing misinformation and hesitancy among Neo-Pentecostals. The difficulty of developing a theology of medicine that is adequate for health crises. The need to improve leadership approaches to crisis management and enhance synergy between health professionals, policymakers, and spiritual leaders.

  Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Narratives Among African and North American Neo-Pentecostals (Part 1): Evidence, Causes and Lessons · 2026 · DOI

• The gap in the worldview of spiritual leaders regarding public health and safety. The lack of synergy between health professionals, health policymakers, and spiritual leaders. The poor leadership approach to crisis management.

  Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Narratives Among African and North American Neo-Pentecostals (Part 1): Evidence, Causes and Lessons · 2026 · DOI

• the study employed a relatively small qualitative sample of 15 participants, - the sample consisted primarily of traditional authorities and ritual custodians, - the sample was dominated by older participants with limited representation of women and no systematic inclusion of younger community members

  Preserving Sacred Forests and Rivers in Abanyom, Cross River State, Nigeria: Is the Environmental Worldview Eco-Centric, Anthropocentric or Relational? · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in Descartes' framework, which fails to address crucial presumptions that trail a relational perspective. The authors note that Descartes' method of doubt is inadequate when considered from a relational perspective.

  How Relationality Precedes Thought: Descartes’ Cogito in Light of Ubuntu · 2026 · DOI

• For instance academics currently grumble about the SAPSE directed bureaucratization (or 'taylorization')58 of academic work, but in the absence of an organizational base, have not clearly defined how these activities are implemented, in whose interests they are formulated, and how they can be contested.

  The white hands: Academic social scientists, engagement and struggle in South Africa · 1987 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the discussion of the relationship between theology, science, and ubuntu in the context of AI. The article notes that the interplay among theology, science, and ubuntu is grounded in humanity, but this relationship is often conflicted.

  The meaning of being human and the future of humanity in the world of artificial intelligence · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could involve cross-national partnerships to examine how the framework travels across related but distinct postcolonial settings. Replication or adaptation partnerships could be developed with universities in different African countries.

  Reconstructing the Moral University: Critical Idealism as a Framework for Moral Formation in African Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• The gap is the lack of an institution-level account of how moral purpose is translated into governance, pedagogy, assessment, and digital infrastructure. The gap is also the lack of a framework for moral formation in African higher education.

  Reconstructing the Moral University: Critical Idealism as a Framework for Moral Formation in African Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• There is a gap in the literature concerning the decolonisation of education in public primary schools. Prior work has focused mainly on higher education, with relatively few empirical studies examining what decolonisation of education means in practice for schools.

  Decolonisation of Education in Public Primary Schools in South Africa: Challenges of Integration and Adaptation for the Way Forward · 2026 · DOI

• Second, while the results demonstrate a contrast between the questionnaire results and those from the interviews concerning participants’ perceptions of their and other teachers’ preparedness, further research is needed to expand on what this preparedness entails in practice and how such practice evolves across different school contexts.

  Decolonisation of Education in Public Primary Schools in South Africa: Challenges of Integration and Adaptation for the Way Forward · 2026 · DOI

• Mbiti's concept of time has been criticised for lacking a sense of the future. The study identifies a gap in the understanding of African time and its relationship to four-dimensionalism. The researcher argues that prior studies have not adequately addressed the complexities of Mbiti's concept of time.

  Time to get a watch: Grounding John Mbiti’s Sasa and Zamani in Four-Dimensionalism · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could explore the impact of community engagement on student outcomes and university-community relationships. The analysis highlights the need for further research on the role of digital tools and innovation in engagement and development processes. The paper's findings could inform future studies on the development of inclusive pedagogies and the increase of universities' democratic role in society.

  Community engagement ecosystems in South African higher education: A bibliometric analysis of scholarship advancing social justice, inclusion, and institutional strategy · 2026 · DOI

• The section below proposes strategic levers to strengthen community engagement in higher education, focusing on the need for greater institutionalisation, collaboration and methodological innovation. Furthermore, it points to major study limitations and recalls future research lines that can reinforce how community engagement contributes to positively changing academic and social systems. The first lever is the institutionalisation of community engagement for ecosystem sustainability The journey to sustainable community engagement (CE) requires meaningful institutionalisation into formal policies, strategic plans and governance frameworks, underpinned by adequate funding and aligned mechanisms for reward. Legitimising CE as a core academic function, rather than an optional activity, also requires its integration into promotion and performance criteria. Institutional commitment: Integration could allow engagement efforts of the campus to be sustained (and enhanced) long after institutional sponsorship ends by ensuring continuity, providing a staff umbrella that enables greater participation in outreach (as described before), and alignment more effectively with teaching and research, ultimately demanding stronger overall sustainability for the ecosystem for such engagements. A second lever is building multidisciplinary and cross-institutional networks for innovation and social impact. There is already too much fragmentation and concentration that call for more collaboration across disciplines and universities. Through inclusive networks, institutions should exchange expertise, share resources and co-produce knowledge that is more attuned to societal challenges. This not only amplifies innovation but also enables aligned, sector-wide responses to enhance the community value of CE efforts. The third strategic lever is promoting methodological innovation through participatory and decolonial lenses. By employing anti-colonial research methods which highlight local knowledge systems as well as following consideration for marginal voices, universities must be mindful of how to carry out ethical engagements. By ensuring that knowledge production is contextually anchored and socially responsive, thereby adding legitimacy, relevance and transformative validity to CE. Despite these strengths, this paper does have several limitations. However, this dependence on bibliometric analysis inherently prioritises indexed and peer-reviewed resources, which risks marginalising potentially valuable insights from non-indexed publications. This carries the risk of Anglo-centric bias, as global databases have been argued to underrepresent scholarship from the Global South. The exclusion of grey literature, for example, policy reports, and community-based research outputs or even institutional documents, is another limitation in the comprehensiveness of this analysis; particularly relevant in a relatively new but effective field like community engagement, where practice-based knowledge is substantial. These limitations indicate that the results ought to be viewed as an incomplete but significant snapshot of the CE knowledge landscape. Future studies should build upon these findings and conduct longitudinal impact studies, assessing the real-world outcomes of community engagement initiatives over time, particularly regarding justice and institutionalisation. There is also a need for studies comparing African contexts to better explain how various socio-political and institutional environments influence CE practices and 388 Makhanya, International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy, 8(2), (2026) 380-391 scholarship. Making methodological approaches broader than bibliometrics, by including qualitative, participative and mixed methods research, would yield a more complete picture of the field.

  Community engagement ecosystems in South African higher education: A bibliometric analysis of scholarship advancing social justice, inclusion, and institutional strategy · 2026 · DOI

• The complexities of real-world dynamics can make it challenging to integrate Afrocentric perspectives into groupwork practice. The lack of cultural competence can hinder effective social work practice in African contexts. The decolonization of the curriculum and the fostering of a more culturally grounded social work pedagogy can be a challenging and ongoing process.

  Groupwork and Afrocentric perspectives in social work education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: A transformative autoethnographic journey · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore the development of holistic frameworks for teaching social work with groups that incorporate African cultural and spiritual values. Studies should investigate the effectiveness of integrating Afrocentric epistemologies and theoretical frameworks into the curriculum. Research should examine the impact of sustained partnerships with African indigenous knowledge centers on social work practice.

  Groupwork and Afrocentric perspectives in social work education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: A transformative autoethnographic journey · 2026 · DOI

• lack of decolonial and youth-centred perspective on mobility and belonging - limited understanding of the intersections of migration, religion, spirituality and the transnational lives of African youth

  Introduction: roaming and rooted – migration, religion, spirituality and the transnational lives of African youth · 2026 · DOI

• The TVET sector is framed by technocratic discourses of labour-market responsiveness and skills delivery. The sector is characterised by a lack of student voice in shaping vocational education.

  Decolonising from below: Africanisation, student voice, and epistemic justice in South African technical and vocational education and training · 2026 · DOI

• The TVET sector in South Africa remains marginal within the country's decolonial debates. There is a need for a theoretically grounded model of ‘decolonising from below’.

  Decolonising from below: Africanisation, student voice, and epistemic justice in South African technical and vocational education and training · 2026 · DOI

• Neopatrimonialism in post-independence Africa. The insulation of ruling classes from the masses. The lack of understanding of post-independence African citizenship.

  Post-Independence African Citizenship: · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of understanding of post-independence African citizenship. The need for a form of citizenship that accommodates both rights-based and ethnic identities.

  Post-Independence African Citizenship: · 2026 · DOI

• The existing literature on culture and education often prioritizes dominant cultural norms. There is a need for a more nuanced understanding of culture and education. The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature, highlighting the need for a more inclusive approach to education.

  Rethinking the Complexity and Tensions of Culture and Education Beyond National Frames: A Culture Responsive South African Perspective · 2026 · DOI

• The paper suggests the need for further research on the precarity of postdocs in neoliberal universities. The paper argues for a decolonization of oppressive forms of postdoctoral research fellowships.

  Postdocs and Their Lived Precarity in Neoliberal South African Universities · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the literature on postdoc precarity in South African universities. The paper argues that the intellectual and academic communities have largely ignored the conditions of precarity, homelessness, and facultylessness experienced by postdocs.

  Postdocs and Their Lived Precarity in Neoliberal South African Universities · 2026 · DOI

• The South African higher education system still faces challenges like entrenched institutional cultures and Western-centric curricula. Despite gains in access and representation, marginalised groups remain excluded.

  The South African Higher Education Transformation Journey: Thirty Years after Democracy, edited by Grace Khunou and Nompumelelo Radebe · 2026 · DOI

• Pressures from globalization, internationalization, and modernization. The marginalization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems. The need for African institutions to retain agency in shaping collaborations.

  Conceptualizing Africanization in Higher Education: A Systematic Categorization and its Implications for Global Engagement · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in African cultural and philosophical studies

• Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa · Development and Change · 2006 · 542 citations
• Rethinking Colonial Categories: European Communities and the Boundaries of Rule · Comparative Studies in Society and History · 1989 · 399 citations
• Decolonisation of higher education: Dismantling epistemic violence and Eurocentrism in South Africa · Transformation in Higher Education · 2016 · 397 citations
• What is the Concept of Globalization Good for? An African Historian's Perspective · African Affairs · 2001 · 338 citations
• Nego‐Feminism: Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africa’s Way · Signs · 2004 · 315 citations
• Wealth in People as Wealth in Knowledge: Accumulation and Composition in Equatorial Africa · The Journal of African History · 1995 · 301 citations
• ETHNICITY, PATRONAGE AND THE AFRICAN STATE: THE POLITICS OF UNCIVIL NATIONALISM · African Affairs · 1998 · 299 citations
• The decolonial bandwagon and the dangers of intellectual decolonisation · International Review of Sociology · 2020 · 297 citations
• Denaturalizing Dispossession: Critical Ethnography in the Age of Resurgent Imperialism · Antipode · 2006 · 292 citations
• Consent’s Revenge · Cultural Anthropology · 2016 · 287 citations

Most recent work

• Introduction: roaming and rooted – migration, religion, spirituality and the transnational lives of African youth · Ethnic and Racial Studies · 2026
• From Access to Epistemology: A Critical Review of Decolonising STEM Education Through Equity and Inclusion Practices · Education Sciences · 2026
• Reframing the lens: transnational youth, lived religion and rethinking mobility and transnationalism · Ethnic and Racial Studies · 2026
• Decolonising Environmental Education Pedagogy: A Participatory Action Research Approach · Education Sciences · 2026
• Revisiting School Leadership: Indigenous Challenges to Global North Models · Education Sciences · 2026
• Echoes of Fanon in South African praxis: Embodied, localized and communal knowledges in group analytic practice · Group Analysis · 2026
• Repositioning Africa in the Global Social Marketing Dialogue: Evidence, Voice and Institutionalisation · Social Marketing Quarterly · 2026
• Reflective masculinities: Black boys contesting hegemony in peri-urban South Africa · NORMA · 2026
• Ordering outside an order: Africa beyond the menu · Contemporary Security Policy · 2026
• They build science capacity in Africa for Africa · Nature Methods · 2026

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