A Critical Evaluation of Ujamaa in Julius Nyerere's Political Philosophy

Abstract

In his works Essays on Socialism and Man and Development, Julius Nyerere develops an African socio-political philosophy with which he sought to address the African predicament occasioned by colonialism and its effects. He dubs this philosophy Ujamaa, a term which has been variously translated as 'brotherhood', 'familyhood'. By Nyerere's submission, the kernel of Ujamaa is an attitude of mind which inclines people towards a deeply felt obligation to care for their fellowmen. Nyerere thinks this philosophy is originally African, hence the appellation African Socialism. This paper intends a critical examination of Ujamaa by analyzing the salient positions of this socio-political philosophy. Amidst the cultural dictates of the global world order, it examines the views explicated by Nyerere to see whether they can retain their philosophical texture under the purifying fire of rational scrutiny.