Africa and the Metaphysical Empire

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-96540-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 130 Seiten, Format (B × H): 224 mm x 144 mm, Gewicht: 276 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in African Philosophy

This book investigates whether African cultures can appropriate some useful aspects of Western cultures, or whether doing so risks falling into the metaphysical empire and diluting African identity.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ndlovu-Gatsheni characterise the metaphysical empire as an intangible non-physical and non-geographical invasion of the mental universe of formerly colonised peoples. As mutual exclusivists, they argue that authentic decolonization necessitates a complete dissociation of the African and her culture from colonial heritage. However, cultural appropriationists such as Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie argue that the African adoption of colonial heritage such as the English language is in no way antithetical to decolonization. This book delves into the debate by exploring the strengths and weaknesses of cultural appropriationism and, on the other hand, testing the validity of mutual exclusivism. The book demonstrates that cultural appropriation without falling into the metaphysical empire is possible, but that this poses important questions about the nature of the decolonization project itself, and where it should start and stop. A more accommodative decolonization would recognize the relationship between cultural universals and particulars, whilst also creating room for cultural appropriation. Ultimately, the book argues that both cultural appropriationists and mutual exclusivists must simultaneously renounce absolutism. By being amenable to a fusion of horizons, discourse can move beyond the decolonization fallacy of arguing that things are always either/or.

This original and important contribution to the metaphysical empire debate will be a seminal read for researchers across the fields of philosophy, political science, African studies, and Black studies.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Abumere, Frank Aragbonfoh

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Kolonialismus, Imperialismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie von Migranten und Minderheiten
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: What is the Metaphysical Empire? The Scope and Content of the Metaphysical Empire; 2. Cultural Appropriationism Versus Mutual Exclusivism; 3. Identity, Race and the Metaphysical Empire; 4. Universals Versus Particulars: Humanity Versus Identity; 5. Resolving the Dilemma of Decolonisation; 6. Conclusion: The Decolonisation Fallacy and Fusion of Horizons

Über Autor(innen)

Frank Aragbonfoh Abumere is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Clark Atlanta University and a fellow/member of The Abuja School. He has previously been a Senior Member of St Antony’s College, University of Oxford and a visiting fellow at both the LSE and the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford. He was also a visiting professor at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Milan, Italy), University of Richmond (USA) and University of Montreal (Canada). He is interested in African and African diaspora issues across the fields of philosophy, political science, African studies, and Black studies.