Foundations of Just Cross-Cultural Dialogue in Kant and African Political Thought

Book excerpt: This book addresses the potential existence of shared foundational principles in the work of Immanuel Kant and a range of African political thought, as well as their suitability in facilitating just and fair cross-cultural dialogue. The book first establishes an analytical framework grounded in a Kantian approach to understanding shared human principles, suggesting that a drive to be self-law giving may underpin all human interactions regardless of cultural background. It then investigates this assumption by carrying out a theoretical analysis of texts and speeches from a variety of African scholarship, ranging from the colonial period to the present day. The analysis, divided into three distinctive chapters covers the Négritude movement, African socialism and post-colonial philosophers, including such thinkers as: Léopold Sédar Sengor, Julius K Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye. The author argues that underpinning each of their very different theoretical positions and arguments is a foundational argument for the importance of self-law giving. In doing so she highlights the need to respect this principle when embarking on cross-cultural dialogues. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of African political thought, political theory and international relations.