Karl Popper and Africa: Knowledge, Politics and Development

Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Editors and Contributors
About the Editor
About the Contributors
Contributors
Chapter 1: General Introduction
Part I: Popper and Politics in Africa
	Chapter 2: Popper’s Politics in the Light of African Values
		2.1 Introducing Popper in Relation to Africa
		2.2 A Sketch of Popper’s Politics
		2.3 An Afro-communal Ethic
		2.4 Popper’s Politics and the Afro-communal Ethic
		2.5 Concluding Remarks
		References
	Chapter 3: Karl Popper’s Social Engineering: Piecemeal or ‘Many-Pieces-at-Once’?
		3.1 Introduction
		3.2 Understanding Piecemeal Engineering
		3.3 Piecemeal Social Engineering as a Method of Changing Society
		3.4 Towards Social Engineering: Piecemeal or ‘Many-Pieces-at-Once’?
		3.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 4: Africa’s Development Crisis and the Limits of Popper’s Negative Utilitarianism
		4.1 Introduction
		4.2 Karl Popper’s Negative Utilitarianism
		4.3 The Minimalist and Welfarist Approaches to State Management
		4.4 Africa and the Crises of Development
		4.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 5: Karl Popper, the Nigerian State and Democratic Consolidation
		5.1 Introduction
		5.2 The State, Democracy and Democratic Consolidation
		5.3 The State and Democracy Consolidation: Whither Nigeria?
		5.4 Towards Democratic Consolidation: What Is to Be Done?
		5.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 6: The Distinctive Character of Popper’s Critical Rationalism
		6.1 Introduction
		6.2 Science and the Empirical Basis
		6.3 Metaphysics and Its Appraisal
		6.4 Popper’s Political Thought
		6.5 Toleration
		6.6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 7: Tolerance, Multiculturalism and the Search for National Unity
		7.1 Introduction
		7.2 Multiculturalism
		7.3 On Tolerance and Toleration
		7.4 The Paradoxes of Tolerance
		7.5 Tolerance and National Unity
		7.6 Limited Tolerance and Multiculturalism
		7.7 Leadership and the Multicultural African State
		7.8 Applying Limited Tolerance to Africa
		7.9 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 8: Shedding the Subaltern Condition: Karl Popper and the New Cosmopolitanism
		8.1 Popper for Central Europe
		8.2 Paradoxes of Ideology
		8.3 Self-Poisoning of Open Societies
		8.4 The Best of the Existing Worlds
		8.5 The Enemies of the Open Society
		8.6 Toward a New Cosmopolitanism
		8.7 Conclusion: Recognition for Africa
		References
	Chapter 9: Popper and Youth Participation in Democracy in Africa: Perspectives on Applying the Dynamics of an Information Society
		9.1 Introduction
		9.2 Karl Popper on the Open Society
		9.3 Popper’s Notion of Democracy
		9.4 Democracy in Africa and Youths Participation in Politics
		9.5 The Dynamics of Information Society to Africa
		9.6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 10: Assessing Faith-Based Terrorism Through Popper’s Conception of Tolerance
		10.1 Introduction
		10.2 On Terrorism and Extremism Connected to Religious Faith
		10.3 Religious Toleration and Pluralism: An Inadequate Panacea
		10.4 Popper’s Critical Dialogue for Faith and Terrorism
		10.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 11: Towards an Ethos of Toleration in Multicultural Societies: The Significance of Popper’s Critical Rationalism
		11.1 Introduction
		11.2 Conceptual Issues
		11.3 The Connection Between World-Views and Conflict
		11.4 Critical Rationalism and the Ethos of Toleration
		11.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 12: “How Far May We Tolerate the Intolerant?” Assessing Popper’s Reflections on Tolerance from the Nigerian Polity
		12.1 Introduction
		12.2 The Reality and Implications of the Regional Crises in Nigeria
		12.3 Critical Rationalism, Tolerance and the Quest for a Stable Society
		12.4 The Notion of ‘Law’ in Nigeria and Popper’s Discourse on Tolerance
		12.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 13: Falsificationism: In Defence of the Scientific Status of Marxism
		13.1 Introduction
		13.2 The Russian Phenomenon of 1917: Where Marxism Became Falsified
		13.3 From Karl Marx to Kwame Nkrumah: The Science of Building an Ideal Africa
		13.4 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 14: Karl Popper’s Critique of Nationalism: Exorcising Tribal Mentality in Modern African Society
		14.1 Introduction
		14.2 Origin of Violent Conflicts in Africa
		14.3 African Politics and Tribal Mentality
		14.4 Leadership, Ethnic Conflicts and Nation Building in Africa
		14.5 Popper’s View on Tribalism and Its Mentality
		14.6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 15: Situating Postcolonial Africa within Popper’s Critique of Nationalism
		15.1 Introduction
		15.2 Defining Nationalism
		15.3 The Development of Popper’s Views on Liberalism
		15.4 Popper’s Critique of Nationalism
		15.5 Popper’s Alternative
		15.6 Nationalism as Social Identity
		15.7 Challenges to Popper’s Cosmopolitan Turn
		15.8 Nationalism, Conflict and Postcolonial Africa
		15.9 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 16: Karl Popper, Tribalism and the Question of Africa’s Development
		16.1 Introduction
		16.2 Communalism and Collectivism in Traditional Africa
		16.3 Popper’s Openness and Contemporary African Societies
		16.4 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 17: Karl Popper on Nationalism and the Issue of Indigenization in Lagos
		17.1 Introduction
		17.2 British Crown Rule, the Idejo and Land Ownership in Lagos
		17.3 Nationalism of the Idejo Chiefs
		17.4 Conclusion
		References
Part II: Popper and Knowledge Production in Africa
	Chapter 18: A Popperian Perspective on Poverty and Epistemic Injustice in Africa
		18.1 Introduction
		18.2 Poverty in Africa and Knowledge Production on Poverty in Africa
		18.3 Epistemic Injustice
		18.4 Karl Popper’s Critical Rationalism
		18.5 Poverty and Epistemic Injustice in Africa: A Popperian Perspective
		18.6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 19: Karl Popper and Intellectual Openness in Africa: The Rationale for Political Emancipation
		19.1 Introduction
		19.2 Tracing the Historical Challenge of Intellectual Openness
		19.3 Political Systems and Intellectual Openness
		19.4 Intellectual Openness and Its Enemies
		19.5 Popper’s Intellectual Openness and Its Applicability
		19.6 Intellectual Openness: A Way Forward for Africa
		19.7 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 20: Verificationism and Falsificationism from an African Indigenous Knowledge Perspective
		20.1 Introduction
		20.2 Karl Popper’s Falsificationism
		20.3 Verificationism and Falsificationism as Embedded in Indigenous Yorùbá Ethno-Epistemology
		20.4 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 21: Interrogating Edmund Gettier’s Idea of Justification with Karl Popper’s Anti-Foundationalism
		21.1 Introduction
		21.2 The Philosophical Import of Gettier’s Analysis and Foundational Approach to Knowledge
		21.3 Popper’s Anti-Foundationalism
		21.4 Popper on Gettier’s Justified True Belief
		21.5 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 22: Popper’s Critical Rationalism and the Legitimacy of an African Epistemic System
		22.1 Introduction
		22.2 Popper’s Critical Rationalism
		22.3 African Knowledge System and the Problem of Demarcation
		22.4 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 23: General Conclusion