On the Moral Implications of Henry Odera Oruka’s ‘Human Minimum’ Approach to Fighting Extreme Poverty in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19205628 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Effiong Ben (0000-0002-3026-1899, University of Manchester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00020184.2026.2671197 |
| OpenAlex | W7160624197 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
In this paper, I consider the concept of ‘human minimum’ as Henry Odera Oruka proposed to obligate responsibility as an approach to eliminating extreme poverty in Africa and beyond. I aim to establish why it is morally problematic and economically counterproductive to demand equal moral responsibility from all moral agents, irrespective of their economic differences, in the fight against extreme poverty. To achieve the latter, I attempt to answer two significant questions: What are some of the moral implications of ensuring that a society attains the human minimum as an approach to eliminating extreme poverty? Who has a greater moral responsibility for ensuring the attainment of the human minimum between the government, non-governmental/non-profit organisations and individual members of society? In Oruka’s philosophy, enforcement of a global human minimum is the equal moral obligation of all moral agents – defined as those situated above the poverty line. I will demonstrate why ignoring the economic differences – and inequalities – of those who qualify as moral agents in Oruka’s conceptualisation of extreme poverty, particularly in continental Africa, risks plunging more of those who live slightly above the human minimum threshold into extreme poverty
Enforcement · Extreme poverty · Moral disengagement · Moral imperative · Moral obligation · Moral responsibility · Obligation · Poverty · African cultural and philosophical studies · Human Rights and Development · Income, Poverty, and Inequality
Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics
The moral psychology of obligation
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Thinking about the Needy, Justice, and International Organizations
A Theory of Justice
What is So Special about Our Fellow Countrymen?
What We Owe to the Global Poor
The Possibility of Special Duties
Creating Capabilities
Anarchy, State and Utopia
Joint Moral Duties
The Problem of Global Justice
On Moral Obligations and Our Chances of Fulfilling Them
Poor, Relatively Speaking
The Paradox of Ambivalent Human Interest in Innocent Asouzu’s Complementary Ethics
Addressing the problem of mass poverty in the Sub-Saharan Africa
Is the debate on ‘global justice’ a global one? Some considerations in view of modern philosophy in Africa
Moral obligations towards future generations in African thought
Is Moral Obligation Objective or Subjective
The Consciousness of Moral Obligation
Global Poverty
Demandingness as a Virtue
An Egalitarian Law of Peoples
Where Are We in the Global Poverty Measurement? The Human Minimum Model as a Veritable Option
And They Are Still Targeting
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |