Denkyemmireku: A Usable Past for A New African State

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 168-190
Author(s):  
Kwasi BOADI
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Black Studies ◽  
African State ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Kwame Nkrumah ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
Usable Past ◽  
Dialectic Of Nature

In Ghana – The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1971), Nkrumah recounts the deliberations within the United Gold Coast Convention on J. B. Danquah’s proposal for adopting the Akan art motif Funtummireku Denkyemmireku (Denkyemmireku, for short), the proverbial two-headed crocodile, as emblem for the emerging nation of Ghana. Dismissing it as a “hideous monstrosity” that symbolizes selfishness, it was never adopted. Yet, the art motif, a kind of jeremiad that says pity that poor crocodile, whose two heads cannot stop fighting over food, even though they share one stomach, is a recognition of the dialectic of nature as one of unity in diversity, the very essence of the hallowed African monistic thesis of matter. This paper posits that Denkyemmireku embodies a potent philosophical and ideological symbol capable of serving as a usable past for a much-needed reconstruction of a more legitimate African state.   ______________________________ 1 Some aspects of this article have been previously published in the Journal of Black Studies by the author. See, Kwasi Boadi, “The Ontology of Kwame Nkrumah’s Consciencism and the Democratic Theory and Practice in Africa – A Diopian Perspective.” Journal of Black Studies, Volume 30, Number 4 / March 2000, 475–501.

Education for Nation Building: The Vision of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for University Education in the Early Stages of Self-Government and Independence in Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Peter BOAKYE ◽  
Kwame Osei KWARTENG
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
University Education ◽  
National Council ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Kwame Nkrumah ◽  
University Colleges ◽  
Education In Ghana ◽  
The University

The Gold Coast was renamed Ghana by the political leadership on the attainment of Independence. But before 1957, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had become Prime Minister of the Gold Coast in 1952, and by this arrangement ruled alongside the British Colonial Governor. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah set out to rebuild the new nation, and by doing so, Education, especially University Education, became a significant tool for the realization of such an objective. He, and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) Government saw education as “the keystone of people’s life and happiness.’’1 Thus, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah wanted the University Colleges in the Gold Coast to train intellectuals capable of combining both theory and practice as well as use their energies to assist in the task of national reconstruction.2 This explains why Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah clearly spelt out the visions of University Education in Ghana. This paper, which is multi-sourced, uses archival documents, newspapers, interviews and scholarly secondary works such as articles, book chapters and books to examine the visions of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for University Education in the early stages of self-government and independence in Ghana. The paper particularly focuses on measures adopted by the first Prime Minister of Ghana such as establishment of an International Commission on University Education (ICUE), making the existing University Colleges independent, the rationale for setting up the University College of Cape Coast (UCCC), the Africanization of the University staff, establishment of the Institute of African Studies and the formation of the National Council for Higher Education to transform the University Colleges to reflect the needs and aspirations of Ghanaians.   _________________________________________ 1 H. O. A. McWilliam, & M. A. Kwamena-Poh, The Development of Education in Ghana. (London: Longman Group Ltd., 1975), 83. 2 Samuel Obeng, Selected Speeches of Kwame Nkrumah, Vol. 1 (Accra: Aframs Publication Ltd., 1997), 74.

Does Liberal Democracy Require a Gandhian Approach to Religion?

Acorn ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-129
Author(s):  
Sanjay Lal ◽  
Jeff Shawn Jose ◽  
Douglas Allen ◽  
Michael Allen ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Public Justification ◽  
Liberal State ◽  
Absolute Truth ◽  
Democratic Socialism ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Unity In Diversity

In this author-meets-critics dialogue, Sanjay Lal, author of , argues that Gandhian values of nonviolence raise aspirations of liberal democracy to a higher level. Since Gandhian values of nonviolence are closely associated with religious values, liberal democracy should make public commitments to religions on a non-sectarian basis, except for unreasonable religions. Critic Jeff Shawn Jose agrees that Gandhian values can strengthen liberal democracy. However, Jose finds a contradiction in Lal’s proposal that a liberal state should support reasonable religions only. A more consistent Gandhian approach would focus on everyday interactions between citizens and groups rather than state-directed preferences. Critic Douglas Allen also welcomes Lal’s project that brings Gandhian philosophy into relation with liberal democratic theory; however, he argues that universalizing the Absolute Truth of genuine religion is more complicated than Lal acknowledges. D. Allen argues for a Gandhian approach of relative truths, which cannot be evaluated apart from contingency or context, and he offers autobiographical evidence in support of his critical suspicion of genuine religion. Critic Michael Allen argues that Lal’s metaphysical approach to public justification violates a central commitment of political liberalism not to take sides on any metaphysical basis. M. Allen argues that democratic socialism is closer to Gandhi’s approach than is liberalism. Lal responds to critics by arguing that Gandhi’s evaluation of unreasonable religions depends upon an assessment of violence, which is not as problematic as critics charge, either from a Gandhian perspective or a liberal one. Furthermore, by excluding unreasonable or violent religions from state promotion, Lal argues that he is not advocating state suppression. Finally, Lal argues that Gandhian or Kingian metaphysics are worthy of support by liberal, democratic states seeking to educate individuals regarding peaceful unity in diversity.

Two regimes of the symbolic: radical democracy between Romanticism and structuralism

2019 ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
Warren Breckman
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Radical Democracy ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
German Romanticism ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Ernesto Laclau ◽  
Constructed Dialogue ◽  
History Of

The ‘symbolic’ has found its way into the heart of contemporary radical democratic theory. When one encounters this term in major theorists such as Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Žižek, our first impulse is to trace its genealogy to the offspring of the linguistic turn, structuralism and poststructuralism. This paper seeks to expose the deeper history of the symbolic in the legacy of Romanticism. It argues that crucial to the concept of the symbolic is a polyvalence that was first theorized in German Romanticism. The linguistic turn that so marked the twentieth century tended to suppress this polyvalence, but it has returned as a crucial dimension of contemporary radical political theory and practice. At stake is more than a recovery of historical depth. Through a constructed dialogue between Romanticism and the thought of both Žižek and Laclau, the paper seeks to provide a sharper appreciation of the resources of the concept of the symbolic.

C. B. Macpherson's Critique of Liberal Democracy and Capitalism

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 646-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Morrice
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Socialist Society ◽  
Economic Liberalism ◽  
Liberal Tradition ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Theory Of Human Nature ◽  
Market Relations

C. B. Macpherson's project was to revise liberal-democratic theory in the light of Marxism, to rescue the valuable part of the liberal tradition from the dangers of capitalist market relations, and to democratize socialism. I identify Macpherson's concept of political theory, which informs his project; reconstruct his criticisms of liberal democratic theory and capitalist market relations; and note his prescriptions for a better political theory and practice. The project remains significant and valuable in a world in which political and economic liberalism is said to be triumphant and socialism dead or in retreat. It is not without its problems, however, which include an inadequate theory of human nature and a lack of detail on the nature of a democratic socialist society.

The Working Committee of the United Gold Coast Convention

1961 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Austin
Keyword(s):  
Gold Coast ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Colonial Administration ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Kwame Nkrumah ◽  
New Republic ◽  
Source Of Information

When I was in Ghana last year, Dr Danquah very kindly allowed me to read and make notes on an early Minute Book belonging to the Working Committee of the United Gold Coast Convention. I thought it was very interesting, for it covered the years 1947–51 when discontent with colonial rule came to a head, and produced first the U.G.C.C.—as it is easier to call it—and then its radical offspring, the Convention People's Party. The Minute Book was carefully, clearly written; it runs parallel to the early part of Nkrumah's Autobiography (ch. 5 to 12)—itself a valuable source of information—and it confirms, adds to and occasionally corrects the account given by Nkrumah of these interesting years when the colonial administration was beginning to retreat and the nationalists to advance. Moreover, in its beginning lay its end: the two chief protagonists in 1947 were Dr J. B. Danquah and Dr Kwame Nkrumah; and, thirteen years later, they were still opposed, as rival candidates for the presidency of the new republic.

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