Out of Africa: The challenges, evolution, and opportunities of African military history

Abstract

Since their inception, African studies have endeavored to dispel the harmful racialized stereotypes of the African people. However, these efforts have been uneven and some aspects of African history have remained immersed in colonial dehumanized tropes. The sub-discipline of African military history has been one such aspect due in part to structural issues involved in its generation. However, with these structural issues slowly being overcome by advances in the discipline, the development of African institutions, and the expansion of historical inquiry, there are now a multitude of African military historical inquiries that might be successfully pursued. In turn, these inquiries will help transform the understanding of African military practices from a racialized discussion of slave raids and massacres to a nuanced examination of a complex sociopolitical practice.