Abstract
This chapter investigates capitalism and freedom in African traditional political philosophy. It focuses on radical communitarianism, a version of socialism, which is claimed by academics as representative of the African sociopolitical and economic system, and a common system of governance known as the monarchism. The chapter explores capitalism and freedom by concentrating on indicators, such as ‘democratic governance,’ ‘trade relations,’ ‘private property,’ and the conceptualization of freedom in the African communities. The presence of elements of capitalism in these communities before the coming of colonialism raises some doubts on radical communitarianism as a genuine representation of the African experience.
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Notes
- 1.
A tribe is normally comprised of people that are united by belonging to the same ethnic group.
- 2.
This will be discussed further in Chapter 13 of this work.
- 3.
Plato, Republic, http://www.idph.net, 18 de maio de 2002, p. 304.
- 4.
In fact, in the enlightenment period, the supposed father of liberalism, John Locke in his Two Treatises of Government (1823), articulated elements supporting the centrality of liberty in human life (Locke John. [1823]. Two Treatise of Government. London: Rod Hay).
- 5.
Note that polity is the best form of governance where the interest of individuals and the whole community is taken care of. On the contrary, democracy is regarded by Aristotle as worst form of government as noted earlier.
- 6.
Note that concern here is not the theory of participatory democracy as was the case in Mutharika above.
- 7.
- 8.
The word Thangata is a Chichewa language word which means help.
- 9.
The Iron Age refers to the period when human beings moved from the use of stone instruments to iron.
- 10.
Chakanza (2000, 256) replaces throat with heart. This is due to the fact that throat and heart are in some respects utilized interchangeably to symbolize the center of desire/will.
- 11.
This proverb is similar to mwana akalirira fupa mpatse/mpatse fupa mwana atothole (When a child cries for a bone give it to her/him/Give a bone to a child she/he keeps quiet). Freedom to a child who is insisting to do something is a must.
- 12.
The figurative expression discussed in this section is similar to kachinyiza anang’amba thumba (The forcing made a bag to burst).
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Kayange, G.M. (2020). Capitalism and Freedom in African Communitarianism. In: Capitalism and Freedom in African Political Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44360-3_3
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