The African Conception of Time

In this lecture and conversation, we explore the African conception of time.

So what is the African conception of time? Does it affect how Africans view the world and social relationships and therefore should it affect how we study, write, and teach African history?

Anthropologists hold that there is a direct link between a community’s conception of time and how they see the physical and social worlds around them. We explore the grounding of the African conception of time in cosmological, religious, mythical, and social time, how it has been affected by interactions with non-African conceptions of time, and what this all means for African history.