Philosophy and the Challenge of Development in Africa

Abstract

The decades following the attainment of independence in most African countries have been described as a period of varied experimentation with strategies aimed at bringing about rapid and sustainable development. Surprisingly, however, at least from documentation and the observable, irrespective of the paradigm or school of thought that has informed particular developmental policies in most African countries, the result has been the same: the failure to eradicate underdevelopment and all that is associated with it. Indeed, development has eluded the majority of African countries. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have recorded fluctuating and dwindling development strides in the decades since independence. This situation has led some social scientists to conclude that development theories in general are in crisis or in a state of bankruptcy, especially in respect to Africa. And since development theory constitutes practice, the developmental challenge facing countries in Africa cannot be divorced from the theories, policies and strategies adopted by these countries to bring about development. Consequently, a paradigmatic shift is needed if such countries are to be counted among the developed nations. It is important to state that the different strategies pursued by African countries in the quest for development can be broadly grouped into two categories: (i) development strategies that call for integration with the world capitalist (market) system, and (ii) development strategies that call for disengagement from the world capitalist system. Theories that adopt the former strategy are largely associated with the modernization paradigm, while theories based on the latter are mainly associated with a dependency/world-systems perspective.