Foundations of Just Cross-Cultural Dialogue in Kant and African Political Thought (International Political Theory)

This book addresses the potential existence of shared foundational principles in the work of Immanuel Kant and a range of African political thought, as well as their suitability in facilitating just and fair cross-cultural dialogue. The book first establishes an analytical framework grounded in a Kantian approach to understanding shared human principles, suggesting that a drive to be self-law giving may underpin all human interactions regardless of cultural background. It then investigates this assumption by carrying out a theoretical analysis of texts and speeches from a variety of African scholarship, ranging from the colonial period to the present day. The analysis, divided into three distinctive chapters covers the Négritude movement, African socialism and post-colonial philosophers, including such thinkers as: Léopold Sédar Sengor, Julius K Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye. The author argues that underpinning each of their very different theoretical positions and arguments is a foundational argument for the importance of self-law giving. In doing so she highlights the need to respect this principle when embarking on cross-cultural dialogues. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of African political thought, political theory and international relations. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 9 1.1 Setting the Terms of Discussion 11 1.2 Sketching Out the Project 12 1.3 Methodology and Framework 14 1.4 African Political Theory 16 1.5 What Follows 18 References 21 Chapter 2: Kantian Framework 24 2.1 Self-Law Giving 28 2.1.1 Internal Self-Law Giving 28 2.1.2 External Self-Law Giving and the Condition of ‘Right’ 33 2.2 The A Priori Right to Freedom and the Duty to Obtain It 40 2.3 The Debate Surrounding the Divide Between Morality and Politics 43 2.4 Applying the Framework to the African Case 52 2.4.1 Equality of Individuals 53 2.4.2 Self-Mastery 53 2.4.3 Freedom of Choice and Domination 54 2.5 Conclusion 55 References 55 Chapter 3: Understanding the Debate Between Universalism and Relativism 57 3.1 Definitions of Culture 60 3.2 The Relationship Between Majority and Minority Cultures 67 3.3 The Incommensurability Thesis 72 3.4 Common Language and Practice 81 3.5 Conclusion: A Comparative Approach to Culture 84 References 86 Chapter 4: The Négritude Movement 88 4.1 What is Négritude and Why is it Important? 90 4.2 Introducing the Key Thinkers 98 4.3 Exploring Kantian Undertones in the Artistic Movement 103 4.4 Kantianism and the Political Movement 110 4.4.1 Freedom of Choice, Autonomy, and Equality 110 4.4.2 Domination and Oppression 116 4.5 Frantz Fanon and a Critique of the Négritude Movement 119 4.5.1 General Critique 120 4.5.2 Frantz Fanon 122 4.6 Conclusion 128 References 129 Chapter 5: African Socialism 132 5.1 Introduction: Why African Socialism? 134 5.2 The Pan-African Presidents 145 5.3 Kantian Undertones 149 5.3.1 Self-Mastery 150 5.3.2 External Freedom of Choice, Autonomy, and Equality 154 5.3.3 Domination and Oppression 158 5.3.4 Ujamaa Vijijini 161 5.4 The Failings of the African Socialist Projects of Nyerere, Nkrumah, and Machel 166 5.5 Conclusion 169 References 171 Chapter 6: Postcolonial Philosophers 175 6.1 Introducing the Postcolonial Philosophers 176 6.2 A Critique of Narratives of ‘Return’, a Focus on Traditional Values and Ethnophilosophy 180 6.3 Universal Principles and the Role of Culture 192 6.4 Kantianism and Contemporary African Philosophy 202 6.4.1 The Right and Duty to be an Autonomous Individual 202 6.4.2 External Self-Law Giving and the Condition of Public Right 206 6.5 Conclusion 207 References 208 Chapter 7: Conclusions 210 References 216 Index 218 This book addresses the potential existence of shared foundational principles in the work of Immanuel Kant and a range of African political thought, as well as their suitability in facilitating just and fair cross-cultural dialogue. The book first establishes an analytical framework grounded in a Kantian approach to understanding shared human principles, suggesting that a drive to be self-law giving may underpin all human interactions regardless of cultural background. It then investigates this assumption by carrying out a theoretical analysis of texts and speeches from a variety of African scholarship, ranging from the colonial period to the present day. The analysis, divided into three distinctive chapters covers the Negritude movement, African socialism and post-colonial philosophers, including such thinkers as: Leopold Sedar Sengor, Julius K Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye. The author argues that underpinning each of their very different theoretical positions and arguments is a foundational argument for the importance of self-law giving. In doing so she highlights the need to respect this principle when embarking on cross-cultural dialogues. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of African political thought, political theory and international relations Front Matter ....Pages i-vii Introduction (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 1-15 Kantian Framework (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 17-49 Understanding the Debate Between Universalism and Relativism (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 51-81 The Négritude Movement (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 83-126 African Socialism (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 127-169 Postcolonial Philosophers (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 171-205 Conclusions (Gemma K. Bird)....Pages 207-214 Back Matter ....Pages 215-220