Over the years, the social sciences and related disciplines in postcolonial societies have agitated against the dominant Eurocentric mode of knowledge production. In this case, the grouse against Eurocentric knowledge production is that it undermines attempts at indigenising Eurocentric sociology in Nigeria. This article is an engagement with efforts to evolve a Nigerian sociology. It draws upon the concept of the captive mind, developed by Syed Hussein Alatas, a Southeast Asian intellectual, to critically explore the indigenisation of sociology in Nigeria. In doing so, the article explores the development and entrenchment of Eurocentric sociology as well as attempts at indigenising it over five decades of the production of sociological knowledge in Nigerian universities. It portrays the ways in which the ‘captive’ Nigerian sociologists, students of sociology and the antagonistic material conditions of producing and propagating knowledge connive against the indigenisation of sociology in Nigeria.
AdesinaJ (2002) Sociology and Yoruba studies: Epistemic intervention or doing sociology in the ‘vernacular’. African Sociological Review6(1): 91–114.
2.
AkeC (1979) Social Science as Imperialism: The Theory of Political Development. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.
3.
AkinwowoA (1974) Presidential address: Association for what?The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology1(1): 3–6.
4.
AkinwowoA (1978) Ajobi and Ajogbe: Variations on the theme of sociation. Inaugural lecture Series46, University of Ife, Ile Ife, Nigeria.
5.
AkinwowoA (1986) Contributions to the sociology of knowledge from and African oral poetry. International Sociology1 (4): 345–348.
6.
AkinwowoA (1991) Response to Lawuyi and Taiwo. International Sociology6(2): 243–251.
7.
AkinwowoA (1999) Indigenous sociology: Extending the scope of the argument. International Sociology14(2): 115–138.
8.
AlatasF (1995) The theme of relevance in Third World human sciences. Singapore Journal of Geography16(2): 123–140.
9.
AlatasF (2003) Academic dependency and the global division of labour. Current Sociology51(6): 599–613.
10.
AlatasS (1972) The captive mind in development studies. International Social Science Journal24(1): 9–25.
11.
AlatasS (1974) The captive mind and creative development. International Social Science Journal26(4): 691–700.
12.
AlatasS (2000) Intellectual imperialism: Definition, traits and problems. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science28 (1): 23–45.
13.
AlbrowMKingE (1990) Globalisation, Knowledge and Society. London: SAGE.
14.
AltbachP (1977) Servitude of the mind? Education, dependency and neocolonialism. Teacher College Record79(2): 187–204.
15.
AltbachP (1987) Higher Education in Third World: Themes and Variations. New York: Advent Books.
16.
AnyanwuO (2011) The Politics of Access: University Education and Nation-Building in Nigeria. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
17.
ArowosegbeJ (2016) African scholars, African studies and knowledge production on Africa. Africa86(2): 324–338.
18.
AshbyE (1966) Universities: British, India, African: A Study in the Ecology of Higher Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
19.
AtalY (1981) The call for indigenization. International Social Science Journal33(1): 189–197.
20.
BurawoyM (2009) Challenges for a global sociology. Contexts4(8): 36–41.
21.
Chinweizu (1987) Decolonising the African Mind. Lagos: Pero Publishers.
22.
ConnellR (2007) Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in the Social Sciences. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
23.
DennisC (1974) Sociological theory in Nigeria: What for?The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology1(1): 79–86.
24.
EkehP (1975) Colonialism and the two publics in Africa: A theoretical statement. Comparative Studies in Society and History17(1): 91–112.
25.
EkehP (1983) Colonialism and social structure. Inaugural lecture, University of Ibadan.
26.
EkpoM (1985) Two decades of sociology in Nigeria, 1960–1980: A developmental overview. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology22(1–2): 81–111.
27.
ErinoshoO (1994) Thirty three years of sociology in Nigeria. International Sociology9(2): 209–216.
28.
FanonF (2008) Black Skin, White Mask. New York: Grove Press.
29.
HakeemT (2009) Britain and the foundation of anti-communist policies in Nigeria, 1945–1960. African and Asian Studies8(1/2): 47–66.
30.
Isiugo-AbaniheUIsamahAAdeshinaJ (2002) Currents and Perspectives in Sociology. Lagos: Malthouse Press.
31.
LawuyiOTaiwoO (1990) Toward an African sociological tradition: A rejoinder to Akinwowo and Makinde. International Sociology5(1): 57–73.
32.
MamdaniM (2011) The importance of research in a university. Keynote speech at Makerere University Research and Innovations Dissemination Conference, April.
33.
NgugiT (1986) Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language and African Literature. London: James Currey.
34.
NyamjohF (2004) A relevant education for African development – some epistemological considerations. Africa DevelopmentXXIX(1): 161–168.
35.
NzimiroI (1971) Social scientists and the challenges of our civilization. The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology7: 121–139.
36.
ObidiS (1990) Nationalist’s demand for university education and government’s response, 1920–1948. History of Education19(1): 55–64.
37.
OloruntimehinO (1999) Forty years of sociology in Nigeria. Annals of the Social Science Academy of Nigeria11: 121–133.
38.
OlukoshiA (1993) The Politics of Structural Adjustment in Nigeria. London: James Currey.
39.
OlukoshiAZelezaP (2004) The struggle for African universities and knowledge. In: OlukoshiAZelezaP (eds) African Universities in the Twenty First Century. Dakar: CODESRIA, pp. 2–17.
40.
OnyeonoruI (2010) Challenges of doing sociology in a globalizing South: Between indigenization and emergent structures. In: BurawoyMChangM-KHsiehMF-Y (eds) Facing Unequal World: Challenges for a Global Sociology. Taipei: Academia Sinica, pp. 268–281.
41.
OtiteO (1971) Anthropological responsibilities in Nigeria. In: First Annual Conference of NASA, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
42.
OtiteO (2008) Four decades of sociology in Nigeria. Keynote address to the Conference on Four Decades of Sociology in Nigeria, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
43.
ParkP (1988) Towards an emancipatory sociology: Abandoning universalism for true indigenization. International Sociology3(2): 161–170.
44.
SandaM (1988) In defence of indigenisation in sociological theories. International Sociology3(2): 189–199.
45.
SztompkaP (2011) Another sociological utopia. Contemporary Sociology40(4): 388–396.
46.
TaiwoO (1993) Colonialism and its aftermath: The crisis of knowledge production. Callaloo16(4): 891–908.
47.
WallersteinI (1999) The End of the World as We Know It: Social Science in the Twenty First Century. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
48.
ZaidiA (2011) Islam, Modernity and the Human Sciences. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
