Abstract
In this study, the idea of the local African community as a social structure ensuring the security of its members is presented. An understanding of the concept of security is first briefly discussed, followed by the meaning of the concept of the local African community. The chapter also makes an a priori distinction between what one can call “moderate” and “radical” types of communal life and two case studies exemplifying them are presented. The chapter aims to analyze the trade off, in terms of provision of security, including economic security, by local communities, for the shaping of a democratic political culture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most importantly, however, this chapter also highlights the rationality that underpins the seemingly low-quality democratic political activities of members of local African communities.
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Notes
- 1.
This refers to “ethnic groups,” a term which Menkiti saw as problematic and avoided.
- 2.
Menkiti (1984) uses the terms “person” and “man” interchangeably.
- 3.
Cf. Menkiti (2004a: 326) enumerates the following “minimalist requirements” of being a person: consciousness, memory, will, soul, rationality, and mental function.
- 4.
Menkiti (2004a: 326) also uses in this meaning such phrases as a “moral being” and “bearer of norms.”
- 5.
Cf. Trzcinski (2011).
- 6.
Gyekye does not explain the meaning of the term “local community,” perhaps taking its meaning for granted.
- 7.
This coincides with the views of the Sierra Leonean philosopher George M. Carew (2006: 55), who maintains that although a person is a socially constituted being, this does not entail a loss of his or her autonomy. And, as he states, individuals may still be able to shape society, just as society can determine their identity partially. This perception of agency as “self-activity” contrasts with the liberal view of passive agency associated with the possession of abstract rights.
- 8.
However, Gyekye’s opinions on the conceptualization of a person among the Akans are rejected by Kwasi Wiredu (1996: 129–130, 221), whose support for Menkiti’s views is all the more important because both Wiredu and Gyekye are Akans, and Menkiti is not.
- 9.
Cf. Schatzberg (1993: 457).
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Trzcinski, K. (2021). Security, Local Community, and the Democratic Political Culture in Africa. In: Afolayan, A., Yacob-Haliso, O., Oloruntoba, S.O. (eds) Pathways to Alternative Epistemologies in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60652-7_7
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