Hardback
April 10, 2014
9780253012722
English
256
7.81 Inches (US)
5.06 Inches (US)
$75.00 USD, £59.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference
Paperback / softback
April 10, 2014
9780253012753
English
256
7.81 Inches (US)
5.06 Inches (US)
$25.00 USD, £20.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Africa Must Be Modern

A Manifesto

In a forthright and uncompromising manner, Olúfémi Táíwò explores Africa's hostility toward modernity and how that hostility has impeded economic development and social and political transformation. What has to change for Africa to be able to respond to the challenges of modernity and globalization? Táíwò insists that Africa can renew itself only by fully engaging with democracy and capitalism and by mining its untapped intellectual resources. While many may not agree with Táíwò's positions, they will be unable to ignore what he says. This is a bold exhortation for Africa to come into the 21st century.

About the Author

Olúfémi Táíwò is Professor of Africana Studies at the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University. He is author of How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa (IUP, 2010).

Reviews

"Whoever thinks he knows the problem of Africa had better read this book. Whoever feels there is no known solution that can apply should read this book first; but whoever wishes to remain unperturbed about the African predicament had better not read this book. This book almost certainly will challenge any mind. The author has evidently written down thoughts that cost him his sleep for many years now."—African Studies Quarterly

"Táiwò's firm and fierce argument is timely because it unapologetically prompts questions. . .45.4 Winter 2014"—Research in AFRICAN LITERATURES

"This book is a brave and boisterous attempt to challenge Africa to follow a clear-cut development trajectory in the face of its disappointing performance in the development arena in the post-colonial period. Taiwo provides an interesting analysis of modernity as the key to attaining Africa's development. The author's bold declarations on Africa's development trajectory make the book exceedingly readable, and place Taiwo amongst the ranks of other African development trajectory scholars like Sabelo Ndlovu and Moeletsi Mbeki."—African Affairs

"Africa Must Be Modern is an important statement that should be debated in both the academy that Táíwò critiques and the African public sphere he hopes to engage."—Journal of West African History

"This is a little book with very big and controversial ideas. It draws a bold, clear line in the sand. African scholars everywhere on the continent will acutely recognize themselves and their condition of work in this. They cannot disagree with the truth of this book, but only with how too fearfully truthful it is."—Tejumola Olaniyan, author of Arrest the Music: Fela and His Rebel Art and Politics

"At a time when many informed and highly placed economists, political scientists, historians, and other professionals (most of them foreigners) with stakes and expertise in African affairs appear to be locked in a futile game of breast-beating about what is wrong with the African continent, it is both a relief and a matter of gratitude to hear an African make a remorseless case such as the one in this book."—Akin Adesokan, author of Postcolonial Artists of Global Aesthetics
Indiana University Press

9780253012722 : africa-must-be-modern-taiwo
Hardback
256 Pages
$75.00 USD
9780253012753 : africa-must-be-modern-taiwo
Paperback / softback
256 Pages
$25.00 USD

Other Titles by Olúfémi Táíwò

Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance

edited by Jacob K. Olupona, Rowland O. Abiodun, OtherLisanne Norman, with contributions by Adélékè Adéèkó, Akintunde Akinyemi, Andrew Apter, Barry Hallen, Bolaji Campbell, Henry John Drewal, Ifaboyede McElwaine Abimbola, Akinwumi Isola,...
Feb 2016 - Indiana University Press
$95.00 USD - Hardback
$40.00 USD - Paperback / softback

The African Diaspora and the Disciplines

edited by Tejumola Olaniyan, James H. Sweet, with contributions by Kim D. Butler, Richard Price, Fatimah L. C. Jackson, Latifa F. J. Borgelin, Judith A. Carney, Theresa A. Singleton, Paget Henry, Robert Fatton, Jr., Olúfémi Táíwò, Sandr...
Jun 2010 - Indiana University Press
$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback

How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa

Olúfémi Táíwò
Jan 2010 - Indiana University Press
$32.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Other Titles in PHILOSOPHY / General

Introduction to Philosophy

Martin Heidegger, translated by William McNeill
Apr 2024 - Indiana University Press
$60.00 USD - Hardback

Human Life in Motion

Francisco J. Gonzalez
Mar 2024 - Indiana University Press
$50.00 USD - Hardback

Three Encounters

David Farrell Krell
Jun 2023 - Indiana University Press
$90.00 USD - Hardback
$60.00 USD - Paperback / softback