What Is Ailing Africa?: Practical Philosophy in Reinventing Africa (Africana Philosophy, 2)

This book presents a two-pronged analysis of Africa’s predicament by looking at the duality of ethics and identity. Its subject is the influence of history in the making of modern African identity, nationalism, peace-building and questions of ethics and justice. Contents Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations 01 The Social Construct Abstract Keywords Introduction 1 An Overview of the Invention 2 The Social Construct: How It Started 3 Social Construct Defined 4 The Western Social Construct Discourses 5 The Objectives of Western Social Construct 6 The Roots of Racial Discourses 7 The Impact of Western Social Construct: the Root Cause of Cultural Intoxication in Africa 7.1 The Western Social Construct and the African Worldview: Culture and Modernization 7.2 Traditional Understanding of Ultimate Reality 7.2.1 African Traditional Religions: an Overview 8 Decolonizing the Western Construct 8.1 Need for Conscious-Minded Leaders 9 Decolonization Attempts and Its Failure in Africa 9.1 The Vision of the African Founding Fathers 10 What Should We Do? the Desire for Antithesis Discourses 02 Decolonizing Colonial Education Abstract Introduction 1 Education: Self-Autonomy 2 History and Time 2.1 Why the Revitalization of the African Past? 3 Autonomy and Freedom 4 Literature in Colonial Africa 5 Africanizing the Colonial Education Systems: the Missing Link 6 The Traditional African Education Systems: a Philosophical Reflection 7 The Role of Traditional African Approaches of Education in the Modern World 7.1 Diversity in Commonality 8 African Indigenous Education: a Lived Education 8.1 Traditional Understandings of Morality 8.2 Morality, Religion and Corruption in Africa 9 African Indigenous Educational System: a Holistic System 9.1 Decolonizing the African mind: the Role of African Philosophy in Education 10 African Traditional Education and Development: Education in an African Context 10.1 Indigenous Knowledge for Development: Opportunities and Challenges 11 Prospect of Integrating AIKS into the Teaching of Sciences in Africa 11.1 African Traditional Education: Gender in Colonial and Post-colonial Africa 12 An African Understanding of Education 12.1 Knowledge in Modern Africa 13 Miseducation: Objectives and Results 03 The European Social Constructs and Development in Africa Abstract Keywords Introduction 1 The African Paradox 2 Is Africa on the Move? 04 African Economic and Political Liberation Trajectory Abstract Keywords Introduction 1 A Cultural View on African Development 1.1 Reimagining Africa’s Economic Growth 1.2 Abolition of Foreign Aid for Development Path in Africa 2 The African Double Consciousness 05 Re-Inventing the Invented Africa Abstract Keywords Introduction 1 Inventing a ‘Construct’: Rehabilitating the African Identity 2 Need for a Healthy Inter-Continental Cooperation 3 Changing Trends 4 Africa Rising References Index Not only does this book detail the colonial experiences in Africa through what the author refers to as a ‘social construct,'it also vehemently criticises modern African governments for their current corruption and maintenance of the continent's situation. This book presents a two-pronged analysis of Africa's predicament by looking at the duality of ethics and identity. It tries to trace the problematic aspects of westernization and modernization within the contexts of neo-colonialism and continued exploitation of Africa by external forces, as well as the complicity of Africans themselves.