The Ethics of Public Administration: The Challenges of Global Governance

11 Ethics in the Traditions of Africa

249 Ethics in the Traditions of Africa Chapter 11 I have listened to your words but can find no reason why I should obey you—I would rather die first. I have no relations with you and cannot bring it to my mind that you have given me so much as a pesa [fraction of a rupee] or the quarter of a pesa or a needle or a thread. I look for some reason why I should obey you and find not the smallest. If it should be friendship that you desire, then I am ready for it, today and always; but to be your subject, that I cannot be . . . if it should be war that you desire, then I am ready, but never to be your subject . . . I do not fall at your feet, for you are God’s creature just as I am. . . . I am sultan here in my land. You are sultan there in yours. Yet listen, I do not say to you that you should obey me; for I know that you are a free man. . . . As for me, I will not come to you, and if you are strong enough, then come and fetch me. . . . —Macemba, chief of the Yao people of Tanganyika to Hermann von Wissman, commanding officer of the German invasion forces (Davidson 1991, 417–18) In a number of books on ethics, philosophy, politics, and civil service surveyed for this book, there is a notable lack of attention paid to Africa and African issues. This is due, we (charitably) surmise, to the complexity associated with treating fairly the history, demography , and philosophical and ethical variation on the continent. In an uncharitable mood, we side with Macemba (above) and suggest that there is no friendship between scholars of applied ethics in the West and the African continent, its intellectual heritage, or, sadly, its 250 The Ethics of Public Administration people. African history, however, represents a paradigmatic example of the patterns, processes, and effects of globalization, cosmopolitanism , hybridity of identity, and fluidity of peoples. In short, Africa represents the future, and it is incumbent upon civil servants, in international or domestic arenas, to work against the perpetuation of trends that are in fundamental contradiction to an ethic of recognition and equality for the continent, its nations, and its peoples (see Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa et al. 2002). Yet, saying that we will discuss Africa, in toto, is as problematic as ignoring the continent. Whether we speak of one “Africa” or an “African” way of politics, the continued trend of neglecting the diversity of the continent and its people represents an insidious part of the legacy of slavery, colonialism, and Afro-pessimism. We are cognizant of some of the important limitations of an “African philosophy,” and in order to avoid the essentialist or pessimist trap, we narrow our study of ethical traditions of Africa to the mores expressed by a set of diverse peoples whose territorial home spans only a portion of the vast continent. Roughly, we are concerned here with sub-Saharan Africa. We are clipping away a region of great importance—the North African/African Mediterranean region. Our reasons for doing so are as follows: First, the ethical traditions of North Africa intertwine in deep ways with the traditions of the Abrahamic faiths (i.e., Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) discussed in other chapters. Second, without making further essentialist claims about the region selected representing an “authentic” Africa, we start from the premise that the patterns of historical migration and empire building in this section of ancient Africa led to a radiating pattern of unique, African continental moral narratives. Third, and in a more practical vein, it is in this fertile region that many of the greatest promises and greatest perils for the continent lie. Given the vast mineralogical, agricultural, and demographic promise of the region, it seems that this area will become more strategically important in the future. Background on African History, Geography, Demography, and Politics Continental Africa is quite diverse in its geography, demography, political systems, languages, and cultures; thus we can expect that Ethics in the Traditions of Africa 251 its ethical traditions are just as diverse. Such diversity confounds the task of constructing a general history or philosophy of Africa; an African summary is a lengthy project as exemplified by the UNESCO General History of Africa series in eight volumes. The societies of this region practice...