Offers a radical political interpretation of history that generates fresh insights into the emancipatory potential of ordinary Nigerians and their precolonial cultural institutions This pathbreaking book constructs a socio-ethical identity of Nigeria that can advance its political development. Its method is based on the rediscovery of the practices and principles of emancipatory politics and a retrieval of fundamental virtues and capabilities that go to the core of the functioning of pluralistic communities. Ethics and Society in Nigeria: Identity, History, Political Theory critically engages history, myth, political philosophy, and religion to demonstrate that Nigeria has an unfolding historic identity that can serve as a resource for sustaining increasing levels of human flourishing and democratic republicanism. Located at the intersectionof history and political theory, this work identifies the nature of Nigeria's moral problem, forges the political-theoretic discursive framework for a robust analysis of the problem, and shows a pathway out of the nation's predicament. This three-pronged approach is founded on the retrieval of moral exemplars from the past and critical engagement with history as a social practice, philosophical concept, discipline of study, form of social imaginary, and witness of the flows of contemporary events. Using this methodology, author Nimi Wariboko analyzes various forms of political, religious, and revolutionary identities that have been put forth by different groups in the country and then examines their usefulness for the transformation of Nigeria's problematic socio-ethical identity. NIMI WARIBOKO is the Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University. He is the author of NigerianPentecostalism, available from University of Rochester Press.
Reviews
Today, the power of good in Nigeria is weak,' laments Africa's preeminent theologian, Nimi Wariboko. Ethics and Society in Nigeria is his attempt to bring the Nigerian malaise under the impress of thought-forthright, coruscating thought-aimed at elevating the power of good. No African theologian or philosopher writing today comes close to Wariboko in the depth of his knowledge, the sheer power of his articulation, and the radiance of his language. -- Ebenezer Obadare, author of Humor, Silence, and Civil Society in Nigeria
Ethics and Society in Nigeria exemplifies Wariboko's inimitable style. In this book he tackles the question that has exercised generations of Nigerian scholars and policymakers-how to 'interrupt' the 'thoughtlessness and . accompanying evil' that enjoy (hardly the right word) widespread acceptance as defining markers of life in most of postcolonial Nigeria. For a study on so unhappy a project ... this book is a testament of hope. * JOURNAL OF RELIGION IN AFRICA *



Book Information
ISBN 9781580469432
Author Nimi Wariboko
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint University of Rochester Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 498g