There are numerous different democratic systems in Africa, from the Igbo institutions that date back to the 15th century to Western-style democracy introduced by colonial powers. But what does democracy really mean for African nations? And what effect does it have on the lives of their people?
This is the first comprehensive examination of the social and political consequences of democracy in Africa. Written from an African philosophical perspective, leading and emerging scholars explore the impact of democracy in a continent dealing not only with the perennial issues of leadership failure, poverty and corruption but also with contemporary global concerns such as immigration, digital media and COVID-19.
With a focus first and foremost on the African people, this pioneering volume investigates how the challenges of democracy as a system affect their lived experience. Looking in particular at the sub-Sahara, it reveals the influence that the failures of democracy have on fundamental needs, including allocation of primary resources, autonomy, welfare, free speech and women's rights.
African Democracy: Impediments, Promises, and Prospects gives an unflinching insight into the struggles caused by democratic governance in Africa, whilst also, crucially, pointing to its accomplishments and the future possibilities for African nations.
Muu info
Written from an African philosophical perspective, this is the first comprehensive examination of the social and political consequences of democracy in Africa.
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Should the Practise of Democracy in Africa be Decolonised or
interrogated?
1. Africas sense of democracy: Pitfalls and Prospects, Bernard Matolino
(University of Pretoria, South Africa)
2. The Struggles of Democracy in Africa: Interrogating the Challenges of
Mass Ignorance and Poverty, Jonathan O. Chimakonam (University of South
Africa, South Africa)
3. Emenyere: A Pluri-versal Principle of Justice Studies in African
Political Philosophy,
Christiana Idika (Catholic University Mainz, Germany)
4. Towards Democratic Participation as a Human Rights Foundation in
Africa Munamato Chemhuru (Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe)
5. Individuals as Citizens: An Ontological Resolution of a Paradox of
Democracy, Joseph N. Agbo (Ebonyi State University, Nigeria)
6. Democracy and Africas Development Challenges in the 21st Century,
Enyimba Maduka (University of Calabar, Nigeria)
7. Democratic Governance and the Digital Media in Contemporary Africa,
Aribiah Attoe (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa) and Jonathan
Chimakonam (University of South Africa, South Africa)
8. African Migration: Trends, Patterns, Drivers, Marie-Laurence Flahaux
(Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France) and Hein de De Haas
(University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam)
9. The Rise of Neo-Nationalism in Africa, Isaiah Negedu (Federal
University of Lafia, Nigeria)
10. Democracy and the Challenges of Religious Diversity in Postcolonial
Africa, Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan (Lagos State University, Nigeria)
11. Freedom of Speech, the Phobia of Conversation and Political Development
in Africa , Tosin Adeate (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
12. Equity / Equality with regard to the distribution of resources in the
context of Sub-Saharan African Democracies, Emerson Abraham Jackson (Bank of
Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone) and Sona Jackson
13. Environmental Governance in Africa: Epistemic reflection, Democractic
Participation and Complementarity Principles, Akinpelu Ayokunnu Oyekunle
(University of South Africa, South Africa)
14. Secession, Failed State Syndrome and Democratic Dictatorships in Africa,
Peter Echewija Sule (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
15. A Conversation on the Cost of Democratic Governance in Africa Vis-À-Vis
LGBTIQ and Womens Rights, Oluwaseun T. Babatuyi (University of South Africa,
South Africa)
16. The Interconnection of Poverty and Pandemics in African Democracies: An
Argument from the Perspective of the Human Minimum, Amara Esther Chimakonam
(University of Johannesburg, South Africa)
17. Covid-19, Politics, Economy, Governance in Africa through the lens of
Electoral Democracy, Chris Isike (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
andMartin Ihembe (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
18. Education Against Racism And Sexism: Lessons in the Leadership of
Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke, Sesanti Simphiwe (University of the Western Cape,
South Africa)
Index
Jonathan O. Chimakonam is a Research Fellow in Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology at the University of South Africa, South Africa. His previous titles include Ezumezu: A System of Logic for African Philosophy and Studies (2019) and he is also editor of African Ethics: A Guide to Key Ideas (2022) and author of African Metaphysics, Epistemology and a New Logic: A Decolonial Approach to Philosophy (2021).
Isaiah A. Negedu lectures in the Department of Philosophy at the Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria and is also a Fellow of the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
