In this collection of essays, Appiah is writing about the modern Pan-African Afrocentric movement. Pan-Africanism is the idea that Africa is (or should act as) a unified political and cultural entity. It claims that African people share a common culture and/or a common political ideology. Pan-Africanists generally assert that African and African-descended people should unite in solidarity toward a common political destiny.
Appiah argues that Pan-Africanism doesn't work because it is based on false assumptions....
In this collection of essays, Appiah is writing about the modern Pan-African Afrocentric movement. Pan-Africanism is the idea that Africa is (or should act as) a unified political and cultural entity. It claims that African people share a common culture and/or a common political ideology. Pan-Africanists generally assert that African and African-descended people should unite in solidarity toward a common political destiny.
Appiah argues that Pan-Africanism doesn't work because it is based on false assumptions. He argues that Africans do not all share a single, monolithic culture. There are many diverse cultural, religious, ethnic, and linguistic groups represented on the continent of Africa. For Appiah, there is no single cultural practice or ideal held in common by all African people.
Appiah argues that the notion of race is itself an invention ("an illusion," in his words). He demonstrates how the notion of race is deeply problematic; it cannot serve as the basis for identity or ideology.
Instead of a race-based ideology such as Pan-Africanism, Appiah calls for an inclusive approach. He argues that we must stop seeing the problems of Africa as uniquely "African" problems. Instead, we must see them as human problems, and lose the illusion of race.
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