Criminology in Africa

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reviews the discipline of criminology with specific reference to Africa and the interests of Africans. It borrows the paradigm of critical and centered scholar activism from Africana studies to support the call for the decolonization of criminology. It summarizes the historical underdevelopment of the discipline of criminology in Africa and concludes that developing a critical criminology on the continent and globally will be of benefit to all, not only to people of African descent. Given that most of the criminological discourse about Africa is conservative, orientalist, and pathological, the chapter suggests that the decolonization paradigm will help Africans to hold those in power accountable while contributing new ideas for reparative justice as the foundation for what Angela Davis has called “abolition democracy.” The chapter highlights the notion of “the forgiveness of the unforgivable,” instead of an obsession with punitiveness, as a major contribution from Africana criminology discourse as a means of achieving the peaceful resolution of conflicts.