Hope in Africa? Social representations of world history and the future in six African countries

Abstract

Data on social representations of world history have been collected everywhere in the world except sub‐Saharan Africa. Two studies using open‐ended data involving university students from six African countries fill this gap. In Study 1, nominations from Cape Verde and Mozambique for the most important events in world history in the past 1000 years were dominated by war and politics, recency effects, and Western‐centrism tempered by African sociocentrism on colonization and independence. The first three findings replicated previous research conducted in other parts of the world, but the last pattern contrasted sharply with European data. Study 2 employed a novel method asking participants how they would begin the narration of world history, and then to describe a major transition to the present. Participants most frequently wrote about the evolution of humanity out of Africa, followed by war and then colonization as a beginning, and then replicated previous findings with war, colonization, and technology as major transitions to the present. Finally, when asked about how they foresaw the future, many participants expressed hope for peace and cooperation, especially those facing more risk of collective violence (Burundi and Congo). A colonial/liberation narrative was more predominant in the data from former Portuguese colonies (Angola, Cape Verde, and Guinea‐Bissau) than from former Belgian colonies (Burundi and Congo).

Social representations of Latin American history and (post)colonial relations in Brazil, Chile and Mexico

“…Respondents mentioned a greater number of elements concerning different social problems, such as poverty and social inequality, and social achievements such as abolition of slavery, and fewer elements regarding scientific and technological achievements, when compared to data from European countries . This pattern of results is similar to that found in studies concerning social representations of world history conducted in several African countries (Cabecinhas et al, 2011). This is probably the result of the socio-economic situation of these countries and their relative status in world relations.…”

Social representations of colonialism in Africa and in Europe: Structure and relevance for contemporary intergroup relations

“…First, the African national identities are probably more tightly linked to the colonial past than the European ones (see Cabecinhas, Liu, Licata, Klein, Mendes, Feijó, & Niyubahwe, 2011). As argued above, the colonial past is more importantly embedded in the present life of African countries than of European ones.…”

Entre o passado e o presente

“…Com relação a essa primeira ideia -quadros sociais da memória -, ela se refere aos meios, às ferramentas das quais a memória coletiva faz uso a fim de possibilitar reconstruções de imagens do passado, em certo contexto histórico, de acordo com as ideologias preponderantes nesse momento na sociedade. Apesar das contribuições do conceito de memória coletiva na perspectiva de Halbwachs (1950de Halbwachs ( /1968) -enfatizando o caráter social e não individual da memória e a importância dos processos comunicativos na construção da mesma (Cabecinhas et al, 2011) -, ele apresenta algumas limitações no contexto contemporâneo. Segundo Sá (2007), a memória coletiva, se considerada estritamente a partir dessa perspectiva original, portaria certas limitações, visto que se referia a memórias entre grupos mais bem definidos do que os que vemos na atualidade, além de haver mais influência da mídia e da interação via internet, por exemplo, fatores que exigem maior flexibilização desse conceito.…”