Explorations in African Political Thought: Identity, Community, Ethics (review)

Explorations in African Political Thought: Identity, Community, Ethics (New York: Routledge, Teodros Kiros ed., 2001) x + 184 pp., notes, index.

During the past fifteen years, many scholars have begun to focus their writings on the tragic history of Africa. Under review here is one such study, Teodros Kiros' edited volume Explorations in African Political Thought. In this book, Kiros brings together many of the leading academicians on African history and thought to present an interesting work on such a timely subject. As the editor explains in his introduction, this book rests upon the notion that Africa has a rich political history that "can serve" its people "as a moral activity" guide, "in addressing the underlying problems of African social, political, and economic institutions." ¹

All ten authors provide unique perspectives on the essence of African political thought, which they connect to the larger quest of uncovering solutions to Africa's various internal problems by examining its political traditions and customs. K. Anthony Appiah, Ali A. Mazrui, Ajume H. Wingo, Kwasi Wiredu, Ifeanyi Menkiti, D.A. Masolo, and Teodros Kiros implore those of us to reexamine our views of Africa's political traditions by envisioning a continent that has a rich and a powerful history of political thought.

Critically acclaimed, international scholar K. Anthony Appiah (formerly of the prestigious Afro-American Studies Department at Harvard University) provides us with an intriguing look at how the Ashanti people of Ghana have and continue to use their ethnic background as a political resource to influence the politics of their nation. Focusing on several African tribal and ethnic traditions, Ali A. Mazrui describes the continuous impact these concepts have had on the political culture and climate of Africa today. Ajume H. Wingo, concentrating his article on the concepts of accountability, responsibility, consensus, and full participation within Africa's various political institutions, shows how these notions have formed and continue to form the foundation of most of Africa's governmental institutions. Kwasi Wiredu and I.A. Menkiti portray a struggling African society that contains an abundance of democratic principles that could be used to form stable governments. While Teodors Kiros presents a fascinating analysis on the impact of a seventeenth-century Ethiopian political theorist on African life and political thought, D.A. Masolo cautions us not to fall into the trap of romanticizing about the nature, importance, and impact of any one individual.

Three authors, Claude Sumner, George Katsiaficas, and Gail M. Presbey, focus their articles mostly on the cultural dimension of Africa's political traditions. Looking at African oral traditions, such as proverbs, songs, stories, and poems, these scholars conclude that much can be learned from analyzing non-African political institutions and structures based on these notions.

Explorations in African Political Thought sheds light on a subject that has received only scant treatment by scholars. This carefully crafted and lucidly written volume moves beyond exploring the contemporary essence of African political thought by exploring a powerful array of new ideas on democracy, cultural and oral traditions, ethnic identity, and political stability in Africa. The editor, along with those scholars who contributed to this volume, should be congratulated for such a fine piece of scholarship. The one slight problem is that Masolo's over use of literary jargon makes his main arguments, at times, a little hard to follow. Despite this minor weakness, the volume adds much to the ever-expanding fields of African history, African political thought, and comparative political theory. More importantly, this volume will help us to truly understand more about the past and present state of the African human condition.