A Reconstructionist Approach to Communalism and the Idea of Sustainable Development in Africa

J. O. Thomas ()
Additional contact information
J. O. Thomas: University of Jos

A chapter in Sustainable Education and Development – Sustainable Industrialization and Innovation, 2023, pp 375-388 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Purpose: Communalism, either in its unrestricted or restricted versions, is a social principle that involves the commitment of individuals in a community to shared goals, demanding of these individuals the obligation to promote communal values and other social practices. Communalism, on this score, appears to be incapable of providing credible development for Africa in the twenty-first century and so needs to be reconstructed. Methodology: The reconstructionist and critical methods of philosophy were employed to show that communalism, in its present forms, stifles Africa’s capacity for meaningful development. This is done by showing its ignoring of a very crucial element needed for development namely, the ontology of the individual. Findings: Communalism therefore in this present form seems to be committed to the idea of ‘undifferentiated holism’ involving an idea of collectivism that defines the African communal universe with an ontological primacy over individuals, presupposing that an African conception of reality is to be located in the community. Research Limitations: The present study, though discussed within the scope of Africa’s development can further be expanded to a discourse relating to a credible participation of Africa in the emerging world order. Practical Implications: This paper argues that the recognition of the condition of social differentiation, which describes an individual laced with a rationalist or critical attitude, provides a viable option for Africa toward a credible developmental strategy in the twenty-first century. This is the hallmark of a reconstructionist approach to communalism. Originality/Value: Existing studies on development in Africa have dwelt on its socio-political, economic and industrial dimensions with minimal attention paid to the ontology of the individuals whose summation constitutes the society.

Keywords: African; Collectivism; Communalism; Development; Reconstructionist (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-25998-2_28

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031259982

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-25998-2_28

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().