The Crisis of Identity in Africa: A Call for Subjectivity

The humanitarian problems of Africa are manifest and widespread.Periodic occurrences of ethnic cleansing as seen in Rwanda, the ongoing conflict in Darfur-Sudan, the breakdown of democracy under thedictatorship of President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the outbreak of postelection violence in Kenya, the widespread growth of HIV/AIDS andoverwhelming endemic poverty are by no means isolated examples of thetragedies which continue to plague the continent. These and similar issues have become the subject of intense philosophical debate and reflection. This contribution to the debate will argue that if a sustainable solution to all of these problems is to be found the key area requiring philosophical debate is the degree to which the subjective development of the self is submerged in an African sense of collective identity.