Peace, conflict, and security studies in Africa have only recently been recognized in several African universities as an academic discipline. The studies have largely been driven by the peace practice carried out by different actors such as cultural and traditional institutions, NGO and civil society organizations, religious leaders, governments, regional bodies, and inter-governmental institutions like the African Union and United Nations agencies. However, in academia, peace, conflict, and security studies have taken an interdisciplinary approach, relying on different sciences and theories to articulate the major themes in the study. Dominant theories have been Edward Azar’s protracted social conflict theory, John Burton’s Theory of Needs and Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs; realism, constructivism, constructionism, critical theories, greed and grievance theory, liberalism and democracy, human rights, and feminist theories. Different theories have diverse emphases on multiple aspects of society and how they affect the population. The contextual relevance of these theories is imperative. Some of these theories and concepts have not been applied critically to the African contexts or African studies in peace, conflict, and security spheres. Fundamentally, theories define the envisioned change based on diverse conceptualizations of social change. This chapter highlights different theories in African scholarship, some of which have not been included in peace, conflict, and security studies. Such theories include post-colonial theories, decolonization theories, cultural theories in traditional mechanisms of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, theory of alternative leadership deficiency; review of democracy theories and extent of their relevance for Africa; youth and women agencies’ theories; theories around Ubuntu philosophy; review of theories of change advanced by NGOs, civil society, and donors.
