Liberal democracy and globalized capitalism in Africa: Perspective from Heidegger

Abstract

This paper sets out to defend a set of mutually inclusive theses. First, it argues that liberal democracy’s sojourn in Africa is not political but economic. Secondly, that there is nothing natural about capitalism, rather capitalism was forcefully globalized in order to create the false impression that man is by nature motivated by self-interest or profit. But this paper demonstrates the historicity of capitalism. Finally, the paper employs Martin Heidegger’s ontological analysis to show that liberal democracy is just the political manifestation of what he calls “the nihilism of Western metaphysical thinking”, a thinking that is expansionist, dominating and ultimately “enframing”; (controlling). Using the expository, historical, analytic and critical methods, the essay demonstrates that the liberal democratic march in Africa is to provide the enabling conditions for capitalist exploitation. Thus, it argues that without the political ground- clearing capacity of liberal democracy, the economic domination and control by capitalism in Africa would be very difficult. In conclusion, the paper draws from the actual experience of liberal democracy and the thrust of capitalism in Africa to demonstrate their ontological ambivalence.