Africa in a Changing World: An Inventory (original) (raw)
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People cannot ‘see’ states the same way that they can watch the sunrise in the morning or catch a glimpse of a butterfly floating above a petunia. From this perspective states are not a rigid, tangible form of reality but rather abstract, arbitrary lines drawn by human beings. The concept of a ‘state’, one could argue, is the biggest game of ‘imaginary friend’ (or foe) known to man. Searle (1995:2) gives another perfect example: ‘without the attribution of value, and the existence of financial institutions, a dollar bill or euro note would be nothing more than a piece of paper. As already suggested, sovereignty or the borders dividing states exist only by virtue of human agreement. It is human design and intent that shapes the material object into one with a specific meaning and use within a context.’ The frightening thing, however, is that sometimes these ‘designs’ are presented in such a way that they are adopted by others. In this way, ideas are legitimised through their parallels in history. As stated by Bush (2015: internet),“history can be a tool of influence – a tool of long-term psychological warfare even – used to manipulate the here-and-now, to give added emotional resonance.” A case in point being that one way that colonialism was legitimised in many societies was through the repetition of certain narratives, narratives that interlinked with concepts that originated in the olden days of slavery. As stated by David (2011: internet) “One of the chief justifications for the so-called 'scramble for Africa' was a desire to stamp out slavery once and for all.” The aim of this essay is thus to look at contemporary debates within African philosophy, specifically: Where is Africa? Who is African? How can and does Africa relate to the West, to other philosophical, cultural and religious traditions? Is reason culturally specific? How are reason and language related? What is fundamental reality, in an African context? And finally, how should political, social and ethical life be imagined in Africa? The conclusion will pull all the main points made in the essay together. The sources used to substantiate the arguments made in this paper were books, journals and the internet.
The Philosophical Ascent of Contemporary Political Theory & Development Edicts: Quo Vadis Africa? Seventh International Conference on African Development (7th ICAD) - Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development through Pluralistic Good Governance and Global Partnerships with African States, Jul 27-29, 2012, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, Abstract Africa heralded the birth of a new consciousness, a kind of non-identity that was based on determined bonding acts of human societal formations and not on geological precincts. More than millennia, the Axumites united into an Abyssinian kingdom, not by vouching their uniqueness but by exalting it and merging it in the new one. Today, of course, plaguing guerrilla-cum-military dictators, that openly deny and denounce the value of the rational dialogic, have isolated themselves, choosing to suppress citizens that have risen against deceit, betrayal and even treason. They shattered multi-ethnic human formations and replaced it with a series of war hawk ethnic regimes; spawning in the end, irredentist splinter groups. Philosophers from Marx and Adam Smith to contemporary pundits including Croce, McIlwain, Crowther, Azar Gat, Inglehart, Welzel, Avineri, and Birdsall have argued intelligently and scripted road maps for political change. This think piece in political theory is predicated on an analysis of pluralist societal transformation and developmentalism promoted by regimes and their Nobel Prize flaunting patriarchs, as against real politic in currency today that augurs on freedom from fear and want. It delves into the penury of ideological narratives of post-colonial regimes: developmentalism, which conformed to neither the delusionary neo-liberal camp nor the insipid venom of African Socialism. In combination with the vacuum in political theories and the resultant paradigmatic gridlock, the ills of governmentality were predicated upon the perpetuation of unbridled power. Hence, in political theory, openness of pluralistic liberalisation process can be understood as a dynamic two-way operation of generic forms on particular contents and particular contents on generic forms. Deployment of the conceptual and institutional machinery of pluralism is at the same time the representation of specific needs, interests, motivations, claims, rights and obligations by individuals and groups. Going beyond structuring or rearranging political actors and institutional activities in their spontaneous, often turbid reality, such operations should result in their transformation into transparent agency and practice within a plural political system. Key words: pluralism, developmentalism, neo-liberalism, generic vs. particular representations
African Philosophy and the Issue of Development
Paripex - Indian Journal Of Research, 2012
One of the central themes in postcolonial African philosophy is that of the relationship between tradition and African development. One of the fundamental questions relating to this is what should be the attitude of African to their traditional cultural heritage. Response to this question bifurcated African philosophy into two major orientations, that is the traditionalist and modernist orientations. This essay critically engage the attitude of these orientations to African traditions and Western cultural hegemony. I argue in the essay that both orientations demonstrate improper attitudes to African tradition because they treated tradition as product rather process that allows for change in the development process. If Africa would have to develop, whether in philosophical or socio-political terms, it needs no legitimation from the West. This however does not imply uncritical romaticisation of African cultural material. The Essay concludes by looking at how tradition can be put to good use.
This special issue of Religions, entitled "Transforming Encounters and Critical Reflection: African Thought, Critical Theory, and Liberation Theology in Dialogue", brought together diverse international scholars and experts to think together on the intersection of African Thought, Critical Theory, and Liberation Theology. One of the aims of this special issue, and of the preceding conference (as stated in the call for papers), was to explore the complex relationship between the West's pervasive (capitalistic) culture and epistemologies, and the current post-colonial context of (southern) Africa. As such, it provided a platform to engage questions regarding the relationship between colonialism, capitalism, and culture through both a philosophical and theological lens. The final publication of all articles in the special issue not only achieved the above set aims, but accomplished even more by opening up new creative pathways of thinking about the three traditions that were brought into conversation (and not only within their intersection).
A philosophical investigaton into African values: towards ameliorating the African predicament
OGIRISI: a New Journal of African Studies, 2016
To say that Africans have been termed inferior beings by the racist philosophy of some western Europeans is to say a known fact. To say that most Africans have consciously or unconsciously assimilated that inferiority label is equally a cleat fact. To argue that colonization and Christianization of Africans by western Europeans left negative effects on the psyche of Africans is to say nothing but the truth. Due to the combined forces of colonization, Christianization, Islamization and chiefly slave trade, etc., with their attendant ills resulting in the inferiority complex ofthe African, the African seems to have lost confidence and consequently, looked down on her traditional values, hence, devaluing those cherished and veritable autochthonous values that have the power to better her conditions. In this piece, through the method of philosophical investigation, a case is made to the effect that, in the devalued African values, among others, lie solutions to Africa's predicament.
Micas Antonio Zandamela African Philosophy 110
Reflect, discuss, and evaluate the claim according to John Mbiti that ‘to understand African Philosophy one has to understand African Religion since African Religion enters all the departments of life in Africa’. In addition to find out whether such a claim is still relevant.
Philosophy and the Challenge of Development in Africa
Abstract Most conceptions of philosophy are convergent on the view that philosophy is a reflective enterprise and inquiry, giving the impression that philosophy is basically a theoretical endeavour. However, there is another possible interpretation that philosophy is not just an inquiry; it is also a task and as both (task and inquiry), it renders philosophy as a tool essential to the crucial quest of development. In this sense, this discourse engages the notion of development as social progress and addresses the challenges that beset development specifically in Africa, responding to the preconceived notion that literacy, colonialism, slavery, values of co-existence as well as the intricacies of institutional ideologies and arrangements are the factors that impedes the development of the African continent as a whole. Furthermore, effort is made to emphasize that an inevitable challenge to development in post- independent/colonial Africa is the crisis of worldviews, which leads to concrete consequences like war fare, terrorism, insurgency and ethnic-religious bigotry. In lieu of this, the work argues that addressing these factors from a philosophical angle would aid a fundamental integrative response to the challenge of development in Africa.