Author Bio: David Wiley is an academic and also one of the co-founders of an organization that improves the educational aspects of adolescents through schooling facilities known as Lumen Learning. Wiley is also a fellow at Creative Commons where he specializes in Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham University. David has also been recognized for his outstanding work by receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation and also a fellowship for Shuttleworth. Wiley is also a social entrepreneur in which he founded Mountain Heights Academy in Utah, Lumen Learning, and Degreed. Wiley was also named one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business" in 2009 by the Fast Company.
Date/Context: This document was written during the expansion of technology in 2013. With technology growing and advancing, new interpretations of societies were introduced. The technology also offered new perspectives of people and civilizations along with the advancement of knowledge. With this new found knowledge, many historians and scientists reevaluated the past and the present and gave it new meanings and defined new aspects that were once unclear.
Summary: This article by David Wiley says that the term 'tribe' no longer has a meaning that is valid in the contemporary period. Wiley goes on to explain how the use of the words, 'tribe and 'tribalism' have been misinterpreted within Africa and have changed the way Africa is viewed by the people of the worlds. Many people believe it is being classified as a simpler state of being. As a result of this, the foreign policy was disturbed as well.
Key Quotation:
•"Finally, tribe is a source of misunderstanding the great diversity of rural Africa by labeling small hunting and gathering groups of less than 100 persons as a tribe as well as a far-flung, multinational Fulani trading group of millions of persons across circa 19 nations as a 'tribe.'"
"The term has no validity for describing the pre-colonial period...the term is as demeaning as ever."
I think your summary of how the words 'Tribe' and 'Tribalism' were incorrectly used, however I think you could have given more in depth examples of how they were being misused even in Africa itself, like how the ZAPU and ZANU were described as tribally based movements. I also think you could have mentioned how Wiley states that in New York they call it ethnicity but in Africa it has been labeled as Tribalism. All in all though nice job, you did a fairly good job.
ReplyDeleteThis document reflects the post-modern sensibility that rejects demeaning and/or racist stereotypes to categorize people in developing countries. We should consider this in terms of epistemology and historiography.
ReplyDelete