Debating The African Condition

Is Ali Mazrui a visonary or a "vacuous" intellectual? Is he recationary, revolutionary or essentially a radical pragmatist? These questions were the focus of a special plenary session of the Conference of the African Assocation of Political Science that took place in Harrare, Zimbabwe, in June 2003. The forum was intended to interrogate Ali Mazrui's contributions in the last forty years or so of his career as an academic. The question themselves capture the magnitude of polarization among different sections of Mazrui's audiences generated by his often provocative propositions amd prescriptions on a wide range of issues---from the role of intellectuals in Africa's transformation to the imperative of pax-Africana, from Tanza-philia to Islamophobia, from the condition of the Black woman to the destiny of the Black race. It is some the exchanges, sometimes intense and even acrimonious, arising from Mazrui's ideas on continetal and global African affairs, from the 1960s ti the present, that constitute the subject matter. Together, they are not only a celebration of Ail Mazrui's own intellectual life as one long debate, but also an intellectual mirror of the conours of some of the hotly contested terrains in Africa's quest for self-realization.

Is Ali Mazrui a visionary or a vacuous' intellectual? Is he reactionary, revolutionary or essentially a radical pragmatist? These questions were the focus of a forum intended to interrogate Ali Mazrui's contributions over the last forty years or so of his career as an academic. The questions themselves capture the magnitude of the polarisation among different sections of Mazrui's audiences generated by his often provocative propositions and prescriptions on a wide range of issues - from the condition of the black woman to the destiny of the black race.'

Is Ali Mazrui a visionary or a "vacuous" intellectual? Is he reactionary, revolutionary or essentially a radical pragmatist? These questions were the focus of a special plenary session of the Conference of the African Association of Political Science.

Consists of 650 annotated entries covering Mazrui's books, dissertations, edited works about him, major essays in books, academic journals and conference papers. This work contains essays, including pamphlets, magazine and newspaper articles, and audio-visual recordings.

Is Ali Mazrui a visionary or a vacuous' intellectual? Is he reactionary, revolutionary or essentially a radical pragmatist? These questions were the focus of a forum intended to interrogate Ali Mazrui's contributions over the last forty years or so of his career as an academic. The questions themselves capture the magnitude of the polarisation among different sections of Mazrui's audiences generated by his often provocative propositions and prescriptions on a wide range of issues - from the condition of the black woman to the destiny of the black race.'

In African countries there has been a surge of intellectual interest in foregrounding ideas and thinkers of African origin—in philosophy as in other disciplines—that have been unjustly ignored or marginalized. African scholars have demonstrated that precolonial African cultures generated ideas and arguments which were at once truly philosophical and distinctively African, and several contemporary African thinkers are now established figures in the philosophical mainstream. Yet, despite the universality of its themes, relevant contributions from African philosophy have rarely permeated global philosophical debates. Critical intellectual excavation has also tended to prioritize precolonial thought, overlooking more recent sources of home-grown philosophical thinking such as Africa’s intellectually rich liberation movements. This book demonstrates the potential for constructive interchange between currents of thought from African philosophy and other intellectual currents within philosophy. Chapters authored by leading and emerging scholars: recover philosophical thinkers and currents of ideas within Africa and about Africa, bringing them into dialogue with contemporary mainstream philosophy; foreground the relevance of African theorizing to contemporary debates in epistemology, philosophy of language, moral/political philosophy, philosophy of race, environmental ethics and the metaphysics of disability; make new interventions within on-going debates in African philosophy; consider ways in which philosophy can become epistemically inclusive, interrogating the contemporary call for ‘decolonization’ of philosophy. Showing how foregrounding Africa—its ideas, thinkers and problems—can help with the project of renewing and improving the discipline of philosophy worldwide, this book will stimulate and challenge everyone with an interest in philosophy, and is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate students, postgraduate students and scholars of African and Africana philosophy.

The noted political scientist Ali Mazrui explores six fundamental paradoxes of Africa today, focusing on Africa's key geographical position in relation to issues of economic distribution and social justice.