THE DOCTRINE OF AFRICAN SOCIALISM

INTRODUCTION

The doctrine of African socialism was popular in the immediate post-colonial era. It was applied as a rallying point, and a convenient mass mobilization strategy, which replaced the dying concept of anti –colonial nationalism. African socialism rejects the fundamental Marxist proposition of class distinctions, economic antagonism and revolution as the realities of African societies. This unit discusses the doctrine of African socialism and how it differs from utopian and orthodox socialism. It examines the various views by African socialists, offered a critique and related their optimism to the objective reality of the African society.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• understand the doctrine and tenets of African socialism 
• differentiate African socialism from orthodox Marxist socialism 
• evaluate the success of African socialism as a post-colonial ideology. 

Concept and Basic Tenets of African Socialism

The basic tenets of African socialism, can be summarized as follows: as a doctrine, it identifies with the historical progressive movement of African people; as an ideology, it seeks to create an identity for Africans that will transcend tribal or sectional boundaries; and as a social system, it concentrates power in the hands of political elite to direct the affairs of their people, as they deem fit.

Since socialism is a way of life in traditional African society, a socialist society can only be built by those who believe in. and who themselves practice the principle of socialism. (Nyerere 1968:204). Apart from reducing the role of the individual within the society the basic principles of African socialism are manifested and reflected in the family, the nature and theory of society, as well as the role of the state and government.

A major principle of African socialism is that man has no distinct personality separate from that of society; his destiny or future is inseparable from that of the society. Therefore the prosperity of the individual is the prosperity of his brethren (Otite 1978:144). The family is also a major factor in the success or failure of African socialism, because as an agent of socialization or primary unit of enculturation, it is responsible for the production of social capital and the continuity of egalitarian African value, modeled on the concept of brother-hood and kinship symbolism.

African socialism does not believe in the Marxist prediction of the “withering away of the state”. On the contrary, government was urgently needed to provide the capital required for socio-economic development in order to meet the “revolution of rising expectations” that arose at the dawn of independence. Also, apart from adopting revolutionary language during the anti-colonial struggle, the only radical step embraced by African socialists was nationalization; which was seen as one way of improving the material comfort of Africans. This was seen as another way to safeguard the hard won independence of African states, from being lost to neo-colonial forces. In Nyerere’s words; “to nationalize in Africa is to socialize--- in our country nationalization means socialism” (Cited in Jordan 1978:41).


The adoption of African socialism has inevitably encouraged African leaders to promote a one partly dominant regime, a phenomenon which Sekou Toure once described as “Democratic Centralism”. The argument is that having sufficiently mobilized the people under a strong national organization during nationalist agitations, it was only rational to allow the emergent political leaders at the threshold of independence to retain power, undistracted by divisive opposition elements, to pursue the programme of economic development of African states. It is, therefore the responsibility of the party to put forward the goals of the state while the government should carry them out. The trend towards one-party state in order to remove, according to Otite, antagonist pockets of  power, has become “a concomitant of African socialism (Otite 1978:148).


In the perception of African socialists, traditional African societies are classless, egalitarian and conflict free. Though, it is possible to discern something close to a client-patronage, or dependency relationships between the rulers and the led, especially during the infrequent moments of succession, yet, the over all structure of African society is that of harmony and unity of purpose.

 Also, because African societies rest on communalistic values rather than a net work of economic relations, it is possible for “we feeling” as against “I feelings” to prevail. The egalitarian structure of African society also influenced the conception and exercise of power. Since all units and actors within the society are complimentary power like every other organ of the society is exercised on behalf, and for the good of the society.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What are the major tenets of African Socialism?

Historical Context of African Socialism

Proponents of African socialism submit that socialism is at home in Africa. Pre-colonial Africa, according to them, was largely socialist or communalist until colonial penetration brought about a monetized economy, which is integral to the capitalist system. Tom Mboya argues that Africans need not learn socialism because it is indigenous to them. (Mboya 1963:163). In Africa, individual does not have a personality different from the community. According to Nkrumah, the “free development of the individual is a pre-requisite for the free development of their society (Nkrumah: 1964).

In pre-colonial Africa there was no private ownership of land, or primitive capitalist accumulation, which is a feature of a capitalist society. The central thesis of African socialism, therefore, is that African society is classless, and that the collective approach was central to the definition of societal goals and ends. Also in African society, power was held in trust by the rulers on behalf of the ruled, in pursuit of goals determined by all. A ruler could not be autocratic because there were accepted norms for leadership recruitment, legitimization, as well as social sanctions to check excesses. African socialism is, therefore, by definition African culture-bound: it is humanist and egalitarian, a defence of African communalism and a mechanism for reflecting on Africa’s originality, cultural and social exclusiveness, inspite of other diversities in the continent (Otite 1978:141).