Essays In The Public Philosophy Of Development Studies In The Political Economy Of Africa

In this groundbreaking collection, leading historians, Africanists, and other scholars document the life and work of twelve Igbo intellectuals who, educated within European traditions, came to terms with the dominance of European thought while making significant contributions to African intellectual traditions.

Philosophy and African Development: Theory and Practice appraises development in a holistic manner. It goes beyond the usual measurement in terms of economic achievement and widens the scope to include the impact that history of ideas, political theory, sociology, social and political philosophy, and political economy have had on development in Africa. It is a departure from the traditional treatment of development by economists who point towards the so-called time-tested assertions and recommendations for 'sustainable development', but which are yet bring about significant change in the economies of the so-called 'developing' societies. It is on account of the failures of the economic development theory, with its tepid prescriptions for 'sustainable development' and 'poverty reduction' that theories of development have now been expanded from mere economic analysis to include considerations of history, sociology, political economy and anthropology, as could be discovered in this book. Most of the contributions in this book have been prepared by philosophers across Africa and the United States who implicitly practise their discipline as one whose most effective modern function would be to appraise the human experience in all its dimensions from the standpoints of modern social and natural sciences, all disciplinary offspring of philosophy itself. With chapters ranging from issues of modernity and religious interpretations, the human right to development, the idea of 'African time', the primacy of mental decolonisation, and the type of education offered in Africa today and as a tool for development, to development planning, science, technology and globalisation, as well as issues of post coloniality among others. The tenor of the contributions is not only proportional, but also engaged in the meta-analysis of the theories on which the concept of development is founded and practised. This book is strongly recommended as a useful text in the hands of scholars, researchers and students of development studies. It approaches the important issue of African development from the broad perspective of the social sciences in general, and buttresses this with the keen analytical approach of its contributors.

The IBSS is the essential tool for librarians, university departments, research institutions and any public or private institution whose work requires access to up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge of the social sciences.

This book critically investigates Jurgen Habermas's attempt to develop communicative conception of human rationality. It explores Habermas's fundamental commitment to the practical import and ramifications of communicative rationality in the field of African political philosophy. Within this context, Habermas's ambitious project to reconcile law, justice, and democracy is wide-ranging. This work explores how it is, among other things, that deliberative institutions can become more democratic through, as Dewey put it, "improvements in the methods and conditions of debate, discussion and persuasion".

When independence arrived in sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1960s, everyone was optimistic higher living standards would quickly follow. But after almost half-a-century of intensive policy and institutional reforms, and massive foreign grants and loans, the condition of the majority has hardly improved. Bad governance has been a key factor, and must be rectified before the region can attain its aspirations. But the need for reforms extends beyond African governments alone. Some of the prescriptions donors enthusiastically promoted were flawed. Others acted as disincentives to development. Market principles, backed with external aid mostly targeting humanitarian relief, did not lay a solid foundation for growth. The problem though is not with the basic principles, but with the failure to apply them contextually. The response to poverty - the major challenge in the region - is a typical case in point. Conventional programmes try to mitigate the suffering of the poor, only to keep them hovering at the edge of hardship. A pragmatic response would recognize that poverty prevents an economy from operating at its full potential, and would elicit action to bring the poor into mainstream economic activity. Reducing poverty is no longer a magnanimous gesture, because it makes good economic and business sense. This uncommon perspective, taking social realities in the region into account, is the basis of the new strategies for policy and institutional reforms, aid management and governance, that are advanced. It is not policies and strategies alone that need to be fixed. Complex delivery processes need to be simplified. Progress would not require a revolution, but a gradual accumulation of small results, interacting to produce big impact. Most importantly, development should be promoted as an activity people do for themselves. With the right incentives, people can organize themselves to beat the adversity of poverty.