Critique of the Teleological presuppositions of Peace-Conflict-Development Narrative Discourse in Africa

Abstract

Implicit in the dominant conceptualisations of discursive peace in relation to conflict and development is the intrinsic presupposition of peace as "the means" towards the cessation of conflict - "the end", whose by-product is necessarily development. Several works have interrogated and criticised this peace construct. These works, often usually recast peace as a social fact imbued with a teleological implication towards progressive ideals of development and end of conflict. This reductionist approach is heavily influenced by Western social philosophy, particularly Aristotelianism, as surmised in Book IV of his (Aristotle’s) Political treatise. After examining several prominent works on peace, conflict, and development by African scholars, we observe that their works are not immune from this utilitarian influence. We, therefore, argue for a refocusing and hermeneutical re-understanding of peace as a process in a continuum rather than as the means towards an end. The paper, therefore, critiques the teleological presuppositions of peace-conflict-development narrative discourse in classical and contemporary African literature. It also employed narrative theory in explaining the nexus between peace, conflict, and development in contemporary times. The explanatory and historical designs were adopted to facilitate a better understanding of the thrust literature on the ontology of peace, conflict, and development in the contemporary world.