Circumnavigating de-Westernisation: Theoretical reflexivities in researching political communication in Africa

Abstract

Based on theoretical considerations in the course of the author's current research on the conducting of and changes in political campaign communication in post-1990 Cameroon, this article revisits central discourses on the de-Westernisation of communications studies and outlines culturally-nested theoretical considerations to comprehensively study the practices and changes in political campaign communication in Africa. The article argues that although drawing on supposedly ‘Western’ theories, overall the proposed theoretical considerations constitute an example of a more viable approach to de-Westernise communications theory. The considerations have strong potential to improve our understanding of political campaign communication practices and the changes they may effect in Africa, if they are incorporated into research and not discarded simply on the grounds of regional exceptionalism, as is predominantly the case in Africa.

Keywords:

• campaign communication
• culturally-nested theoretical framework
• de-Westernisation
• political communication
• Western theories