K. A. Busia on Africa – serie

Originally published in 1967, reissued now with a new introduction, Africa in Search of Democracy in the author’s words was ‘a humble contribution to Africa’s search for political wisdom whereby to avoid destruction’. Written by the author during his time in voluntary exile, he was leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and of the United Party in Ghana which opposed the tyrannical rule of Nkrumah and his Convention People’s Party. In this book he proposed to examine the problems facing contemporary Africa within the context of the search for democracy; that is, for the establishment of societies which provide the best possible conditions for individual as well as social development within the widest measure of democratic freedom. The burning questions of nation building, of modernization, of raising standards of living, of achieving African unity, or harmonizing race relations and world peace, are discussed in relation to the quest for democracy.

Originally published in 1967, reissued now with a new introduction, Africa in Search of Democracy in the author’s words was ‘a humble contribution to Africa’s search for political wisdom whereby to avoid destruction’. Written by the author during his time in voluntary exile, he was leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and of the United Party in Ghana which opposed the tyrannical rule of Nkrumah and his Convention People’s Party. In this book he proposed to examine the problems facing contemporary Africa within the context of the search for democracy; that is, for the establishment of societies which provide the best possible conditions for individual as well as social development within the widest measure of democratic freedom. The burning questions of nation building, of modernization, of raising standards of living, of achieving African unity, or harmonizing race relations and world peace, are discussed in relation to the quest for democracy.

In the mid-twentieth century, the challenges raised by Africa’s emergence into the modern world touched on every aspect of national and international life. One of the most significant was raised by Africa’s quest for her own culture, encompassing not only the heritage of her distant and mysterious past, but also the most recent developments in her history. In The Challenge of Africa, originally published in 1962, reissued here with a new introduction, the foremost African sociologist of the time offers a constructive, humanitarian, and genuinely democratic approach to the problems Africa faced in this search.Professor Busia discusses the political, educational, and economic challenges inherent in the very nature of modern African nationalism. But, he argues, the basic challenge is moral: to maintain and adapt the social and spiritual heritage that Africa has preserved throughout her history. It is in the light of this challenge that he analyses the moral problems posed by Africa’s entry into the modern international community: the demand for the resolution of the race-relations problem, the insistence that the injustice of colonial systems be erased, the challenge to provide right and just governments for the peoples of Africa, the claim to cultural freedom. In the international context, African nationalism not only represents moral indignation against injustice and wrong; it is also a claim for equality. All nations must share in building a peaceful world community, and this requires the cooperation of all races. Lastly, Professor Busia contends, if East and West joined together to serve the needs of Africa, they might, in cooperation, rediscover their own brotherhood and so save humanity.

In the mid-twentieth century, the challenges raised by Africa’s emergence into the modern world touched on every aspect of national and international life. One of the most significant was raised by Africa’s quest for her own culture, encompassing not only the heritage of her distant and mysterious past, but also the most recent developments in her history. In The Challenge of Africa, originally published in 1962, reissued here with a new introduction, the foremost African sociologist of the time offers a constructive, humanitarian, and genuinely democratic approach to the problems Africa faced in this search.Professor Busia discusses the political, educational, and economic challenges inherent in the very nature of modern African nationalism. But, he argues, the basic challenge is moral: to maintain and adapt the social and spiritual heritage that Africa has preserved throughout her history. It is in the light of this challenge that he analyses the moral problems posed by Africa’s entry into the modern international community: the demand for the resolution of the race-relations problem, the insistence that the injustice of colonial systems be erased, the challenge to provide right and just governments for the peoples of Africa, the claim to cultural freedom. In the international context, African nationalism not only represents moral indignation against injustice and wrong; it is also a claim for equality. All nations must share in building a peaceful world community, and this requires the cooperation of all races. Lastly, Professor Busia contends, if East and West joined together to serve the needs of Africa, they might, in cooperation, rediscover their own brotherhood and so save humanity.

Kofi Abrefa Busia (1914–1978), born a member of the royal house of Wenchi, Ghana was a Ghanaian political leader and sociologist. He was a scholar by inclination and temperament and symbolized the dilemma of the intellectual in politics – the man of thought forced by events to become the man of action.These three volumes, originally published between 1962 and 1967, reissued here together for the first time, each with new introductory material, were all written in exile, and contemplate the continent of Africa undergoing rapid social transformation. Together they act as testimonials to the importance of, and difficulty in, implementing democratic traditions. In these works Busia considered the centrality of traditional African ideologies and practices and the institutions they supported, to comprehend the influence of native institutions and systems of thought on the modern national state and to reflect on their continuing role in creating a healthy democratic environment.The principles he taught continue to live on in the influences he made on African studies in general and Ghanaian politics in particular to the extent that his name had become a shorthand for the establishment of free Democratic traditions in Ghana today.

In Purposeful Education for Africa, originally published in 1964, K. A. Busia writes cogently and perceptively about a philosophy of education for the huge diverse complex called Africa. With his knowledge of both Africa and the West, this combination of perception would provide a stimulus to those concerned with the broadest and deepest aspects of education in Africa at the time. Based on his own studies in all types of schools throughout Africa in the early 1960s, he takes the best elements from out of Africa as well as within, seeking to provide a social philosophy of education to help fulfil national aspirations and goals. Reissued here with a new introduction it asks many questions still being discussed today.