Liberal Democracy: A Recipe for Reaching SDGs and Social Justice in Nigeria and South Africa

• In Event: Justice and Representation

Abstract

This paper will scrupulously assess endogenous and exogenous political legacies in the context of Africa and their impacts on the quality of democracy, social justice, and the SDGs’ outcomes. The frontiers of epic decoloniality political pundits will be assessed with the intention of identifying whether they suffice to explain the socio-political realities of contemporary African society, nay Nigeria and South Africa. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wave of liberal democracy traversed the African continent from Cape to Cairo, becoming the normative governance system; sadly, many African nations could hardly brag about reaping the dividends of democracy. For a balanced narrative regarding contemporary Africa, the proposed paper will consider the assumptions of episodic decoloniality to explain how indelible indigenous factors have contributed to governance outcomes in contemporary Africa for a balanced narrative. An accurate understanding of Africa’s socio-political realities can be guaranteed, provided its indigenous legacies are considered. Therefore, colonial experience is not sufficient to explain contemporary African political realities. Postcolonial African society's civilisational hybridity will be assessed using epic and episodic decoloniality thoughts in a bid to understand how the past is shaping the present. The paper will adhere to Khun's constructivist philosophical paradigm. Data would be sourced from qualitative secondary realms, and the Cleopatra nose theory would be considered, emphasising the importance of small causes and big effects. Thorsten Sellin's cultural conflict would explain the possible anomalies of converged opposing cultures. The study will contribute to African political and liberal democracy discourses, among other things.

Author

• Lukman Adewale Quadri, African Center for the Study of United States-University of Pretoria ACUS-UP