African Economic Humanism

African Economic Humanism

Contents Acknowledgements ix Prologue 1 Introduction 1 The Primacy of Africa's Own History 4 African Ethics versus Western Capitalism 5 An Economic Paradigm Shift 9 The Blaek African Middle Class 10 African Indigenous Economic Systems 11 The Bantu Philosophy of MM 13 Culture and Economy 15 About this Book 16 1 Pre-colonial Indigenous African Economic Relations 19 Egypt and its Pre-colonial Economic System 19 Farming, Fishing and Manufacturing in Ancient Egyptian Trade 20 Indigenous Economic Institutions 22 Economic Development and Freedom in Pre-colonial Africa 23 Indigenous Economic Relations: The Bantu World 26 Communalism versus Socialism 28 Post-colonial African Socialist Ideologies 30 The Ujamaa of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania 33 African Socialism as Explained by Kwame Nkrumah 35 Conclusion 39 2 The Ascendancy of Western Capitalism 43 Introduction 43 The Appropriation of Western Capitalism 45 The African Prestige Motive versus the Western Profit Motive 46 The Emulation of Western Capitalism 50 Anthropological Economics and Western Capitalism 51 The Transition from a Traditional Indigenous African. Barter Society to the Western Cash Economy 52

AFRICAN ECONOMIC HUMANISM The Effects of Western Capitalism/Colonialism on Africa and Africans, 53 Conclusion 56 The Nature of South African Capitalism 59 Introduction 59 South Africa: A Microcosm of Global Capitalist Development 60 From Slavery to Pass Laws 61 The Cheap Labour Imperative: Driving Down the Cost of Capitalism 62 The South Africa Act of 1909 64 The Socio-economic Structure of Segregation 64 The Beneficiaries of Political Exclusion and State Capitalism '. 65 The Crisis of Poverty in Rural Areas \ 67 Conclusion 71 Responses to Western Capitalism 73 Introduction 73. The Aims of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) 74 What Does 'Black' Mean in the South African Context? 75 The African National Congress's (ANC's) Perspective of BEE 78 'ANC Inc.' 80 Divergence of Opinions over BEE 82 Problems Related to BEE 84 BEE-related Corruption 86 Warnings to Africans 88 Critique of BEE 89 Conclusion 95 'The Capitalist Comrades' 99 Introduction 99 South Africa as a Middle-income Country 101 The Debate on Capitalism and Socialism 101 'Get Rich! Get Rich! Get Rich!' 103 The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) 107 Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) 109 Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) 111 The Growth of the African Middle Class 114 BEE and the 'Capitalist Comrades' 114

CONTENTS vii 'African Capitalist Comrades': Capitalists without Capital 117 Divided African Capitalist Comrades 122 Perspectives on the South African Capitalist Economy 125 Previous and Current Approaches 125 The Way Forward? 128 Conclusion 128 The Bantu Philosophy of Ntu 133 Introduction 133 Can an Ubuntu-based Economic Alternative Bring a Balance between Freedom and Equality? 135 The Ten Virtues for Egyptian Initiates 136 The Hierarchy of Beings 138 God's Essence or Life Force 139 The Principle of Cosmic Unity 140 The Principle of Harmony or the 'Orderedness of Being' 140 The Communal/Relational Nature of Being 141 The Cooperative and Ethical Character of Being 141 South Africa's Economic Transformation 142 Africa's Indigenous Strengths 144 The Tradition-Modernity Ideology 147 Monika Brodnicka's Critical Evaluation of Gyekye's Work 148 The Space between Tradition and Modernity 149 Modernity and Tradition in the Post-colonial Global Village 150 The Resurgence of Indigenous non-western Cultures and the Fading of Western Influence 154 Reinventing Local, Reinventing Global 155 Conclusion 157 A Theory of African Economic Humanism 159 Introduction 159 Cultural Awareness 160 Defining Terms 161 The Underlying Principles of African Economic Humanism 165 The Basic Economic Law of African Economic Humanism 166 Disciplines of African Economic Humanism 166 Characteristics of African Economic Humanism Theory 168 Conclusion 171

AFRICAN ECONOMIC HUMANISM Epilogue: The Birth of the Human Future 173 Introduction ' 173 African Economic Humanism in Global Economic Integrity 174 African Economic Humanism versus Western Institutions 178 The Failed Doha Round 182 Conclusion 184 Appendix: An Enterprise that Profits Society - The Personal Story of Albert Koopman 187 Introduction i 187 The Search for a Better Way \ 188 The 'One Right Way' is No Longer the 'Only Right Way' 189 What No One Teaches You in College 191 Moving the Action Forward: Turning Ideas into Ideals 193 The Bigger Picture: Becoming Part of a Better Way to Create a Successful Business in Africa 196 Mismatching Science and Sociology 202 The H-Factor: African Economic Humanism 208 The Mismatch of Western Organizational Governance and African Cultural 'Sensibilities' 211 Conclusion 214 References 215 Index 223