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Communalism as a Theory of Justice and the Human Person in African Culture



Author(s)

Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2014.04.001

Discussions about justice in cross-cultural context give rise to assorted theories. In this paper, issues surrounding communalism as a theory of justice in African culture will be examined with a view to show that its principles of care and fellow feeling could be worked out to address the problem of alienation from society characterizing some members of the contemporary African society. Recognition of the social dynamics of human society and relationships is of essence to communalism. As a theory of justice and a world view, communalism describes the human being as “being with others” and what that should be. The expression, “I am because we are, and because we are, I am” is the driving force of the communalistic society. Such a society is characterized by care, love, belongingness, solidarity, and interconnectedness. The aim of this paper is to highlight the manifestations of the idea of justice in communalism using leadership or governance, consensus in decision making, moral rules, punishment for wrong doing, and the equitable distribution of resources. It also aims to show that the communalist idea of justice is integrationist in outlook being constitutive of political and socio-economic elements, which the individual enjoys in practical terms as opposed to the paper rights, which citizens in much of the contemporary societies enjoy. The paper notes that drastic changes have occurred in the socio-economic relations within African societies as a consequence of acculturation subsequent to European colonization and these have had far reaching consequences.

Communalism, Africa, justice, culture, human person, solidarity, interconnectedness, colonization