The politics of development in Africa have always been central concerns of the continent's literature. Yet ideas about the best way to achieve this development, and even what development itself should look like, have been hotly contested.
African Literature as Political Philosophy looks in particular at Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah and Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, but situates these within the broader context of developments in African literature over the past half-century, discussing writers from Ayi Kwei Armah to Wole Soyinka. M.S.C. Okolo provides a thorough analysis of the authors' differing approaches and how these emerge from the literature. She shows the roots of Achebe's reformism and Ngugi's insistence on revolution and how these positions take shape in their work. Okolo argues that these authors have been profoundly affected by the political situation of Africa, but have also helped to create a new African political philosophy.
Mary Stella Chika Okolo
CODESRIA 2007
ISBN : 978-1-84277-895-1 / paperback. 2-86978-204-4
Ghana attained independence in 1957. From 1992, when a new constitution came into force and established a new – democratic – framework for governing the country, elections have been organized every four years to choose the governing elites. The essays in this volume are about those elections because elections give meaning to the role of citizens in democratic governance. The chapters depart from the study of formal structures by which the electorate choose their representatives. They evaluate the institutional forms that representation take in the Ghanaian context, and study elections outside the specific institutional forms that according to democratic theory are necessary for arriving at the nature of the relationships that are formed between the voters and their representatives and the nature and quality of their contribution to the democratic process.
KWAME AKON NINSIN, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Ghana; holds a BA (Combined Honours) degree in Political Science and History from the University of Ghana (1969), and PhD (Political Science) from Boston University (1977). Prof. Ninsin was Head/Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, (for 3 terms from the 1980s to 1995). He was a visiting scholar at several universities in the US and UK, and has authored several works on Ghanaian and African politics. He served as a member of Ghana's Consultative Assembly (1991-1992). He received several academic awards including Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship for "Reflections on Development" (1987), Fulbright-Hays Scholar (1971- 76) for the PhD in the USA; and the honour of the Kwame Akon Ninsin Library, Department of Political Science, Legon.
ISBN : 978 2 86978 694 3
CODESRIA 2016