Themes In African Social And Political Thought

There can be no better time to revive the major strands of social and political thought about Africa in the nineteeth and twentieth centuries than now; given the consensus of opinion that over the last two decades African societies, and policies relating to the continent have largely failed. This book, illustrates that failures in Africa are not for a lack of ideas and arguments, or intellectual life. At the very least, it is a document of the rich history of ideas about the continent, by some of its most influential thinkers. The collection includes pieces on major African leaders/thinkers - Sekou Toure, Blydeen Awolowo and Nkrumah; and contributions by leaders themselves e.g. Nyerere on the process of liberation, and relative concepts of freedom. The other essays are by major intellectuals on currents and periods in social thought and intellectual history, such as Mazui on questions of (pan) - African indentities, on Africanness and colonialism, and African socialism.

Against the background of a long and continuing record of political instability in Africa, this edited collection presents a multi-disciplinary approach to selected issues in African political studies. The contributions explore a range of political and conflict situations, discuss efforts to develop indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms and consider some of the key political and economic issues facing the continent. The specific country studies illuminate the diversity of the African continent and indicate the ways in which the political and socio-economic contexts of African states bear directly upon the ability of states to solve political and economic challenges. The volume seeks to present and promote novel analytical frameworks, conceptual approaches and empirical accounts of relevance to scholars working on Africa and to practitioners and policy makers in politics, governance and peace initiatives in Africa.

The author is a distinguished Ghanaian sociologist, and the genesis of this book is the view that material available is inadequate and inappropriate to introduce students of African descent to the field of social issues.

The present work on African philosophy brings in new freshness into the African philosophical enterprise as it introduces not just thoughts that could be categorized as African philosophy but also thoughts that were borne from the reflections of individual African philosophers. It covers a period that could be referred to as modern African philosophy. It includes philosophical activities in Africa between the fifteenth century and early part of the twentieth century.

For most of its history, the African continent has witnessed momentous political change, remarkable philosophical innovation, and the complex cross-fertilization of ideologies and belief systems. This definitive study surveys the concepts, values, and historical upheavals that have shaped African political systems from the ancient period to the postcolonial era and beyond. Beginning with the emergence of indigenous political institutions, it traces the most important developments in African history, including the Africanization of Islam, liberal democratic movements, socialism, Pan-Africanism, and Africanist-Populist resistance to the neoliberal world order. The result is an invaluable resource on a region too often ignored in the history of political thought.

This volume provides the key to a deepened discourse on philosophy in Africa. Available literature and academic practice in African philosophy since the 1960s have largely featured discourses in the areas of origin, general meaning and nature of the discipline, with little attention given to specialized areas. By contrast, this book examines a noticeable shifting focus from such general concerns to more specific subject-matter, in such areas as epistemology, moral philosophy, metaphysics, aesthetics, and social and political philosophy in the light of the African experience. The volume includes specific discourses from expert contributors on the nature, history and scope of African ethics and metaphysics, while also discussing particular themes in African epistemology, philosophy of education, existentialism and political philosophy. Researchers seeking for new perspective on African philosophy will find this work thought-provoking, instructive and informative.