Africa Must Be Modern: A Manifesto - Hardcover

Táíwò, Olúfémi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253012724 ISBN 13: 9780253012722

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Africa must be modern. Let me say it again: Africa must be modern. And it must be modern NOW; not tomorrow; not in the near future; not in the far future.... Put simply, Africa must embrace individualism as a principle of social ordering; make reason central in its relation to, activity upon, understanding of, and production of knowledge about the world, both physical and social, that it inhabits; and adopt progress as its motto in all things. The position just stated is rarely encountered in discourse about, in and on the continent or its Diaspora. On the contrary, no thanks to the militancy and stridency of the nativists, those who wish to celebrate African genius at adapting the wisdom of others and, by so doing, domesticate modernity for the benefit of Africa, Africans, and their life and thought, are practically shouted to silence or, at best, limited to furtive expressions of their preference.From the introduction

About this title

About the Author:

Olúfémi Táíwò is Professor of Africana Studies at the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University. He is author of How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa (IUP, 2010).

Review:

Táiwò’s firm and fierce argument is timely because it unapologetically prompts questions. . .45.4 Winter 2014 (Research in AFRICAN LITERATURES)

Whoever thinks he knows the problem of Africa had better read this book. Whoever feels there is no known solution that can apply should read this book first; but whoever wishes to remain unperturbed about the African predicament had better not read this book. This book almost certainly will challenge any mind. The author has evidently written down thoughts that cost him his sleep for many years now. (African Studies Quarterly)

This book is a brave and boisterous attempt to challenge Africa to follow a clear-cut development trajectory in the face of its disappointing performance in the development arena in the post-colonial period. Taiwo provides an interesting analysis of modernity as the key to attaining Africa's development. The author's bold declarations on Africa's development trajectory make the book exceedingly readable, and place Taiwo amongst the ranks of other African development trajectory scholars like Sabelo Ndlovu and Moeletsi Mbeki. (African Affairs)

Africa Must Be Modern is an important statement that should be debated in both the academy that Táíwò critiques and the African public sphere he hopes to engage. (Journal of West African History)

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0253012724
• ISBN 13: 9780253012722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256