The Philosophy of Human Rights: The Akan Model

Abstract

This chapter is a response to the decades of Western skepticism and cynicism regarding the sustainability of democracy in Africa toward the end of the last century as most African countries experienced what political scientists term the third wave of democratization. Focusing on the human rights tradition in Africa, which is given as the main reason for the skepticism, this chapter argues to the contrary that not only is there a vibrant tradition of human rights in Africa with particular reference to the Akan model, but that its existence offers one of the best explanations for the relative success of democracy in Africa from the last century to the recent. The chapter shows further that an objective analysis into the Akan culture will reveal that the Akan conception of human rights which compliments negative rights with positive rights in principle and practice is more relevant and heuristic within African contexts than dominant conceptions of human rights from the Global North. This is seen in its demonstrated potential for facilitating and sustaining African democracies to maturity, despite the pressures from the pandemic and global economic crises.

The is a posthumous publication of this chapter as the author, the Ghanaian philosopher, Professor Joseph Osei died on November 30, 2022, before the completion of this book but after submitting the full draft. Thus, Elvis Imafidon has only revised the chapter in response to reviewer’s comments and worked with the production team in copyediting and finalizing the chapter for publication.