Applying the weapon of theory

Comparing the philosophy of Julius Kambarage Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah

Bibliographic Data

ID2173073
AuthorsTomáš František Žák
Year2016
Volume28
Issue2
Pages147-160
Publication date2016-05-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13696815.2015.1053798
OpenAlexW2248284000
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

This article seeks to dismantle the prevalent claim that Nyerere's Ujamaa policy and Nkrumah's philosophy of Consciencism were of a similar ideological ilk. Often, the two are treated homogeneously within the discourse on African Socialism, and frequently the classic objection is raised that they rely too heavily upon Marxism in seeking to articulate their respective ideologies. By building on the existing literature on scientific socialism, this article seeks to draw a distinction between Marxism as an ideology and Marxism as a methodology. Critics consistently overlook this distinction and fail to consider many of the nuances of Nkrumah's thinking, hastily labelling him as a disciple of African Socialism. By unravelling Nkrumah's political philosophy important differences between him and Nyerere quickly become apparent, in particular the manner in which Consciencism was a dynamic, responsive and evolutionary philosophy, whereas Ujamaa was static, impervious to change and firmly rooted in the past

Communism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ideology · Kwame · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Socialism · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · African history and culture analysis · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Law · Philosophy

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