S.N. Eisenstadt and African modernities: Dialogue, extension, retrieval

Abstract

This article elucidates some connections and divergences between S.N. Eisenstadt’s work on multiple modernities and critical reflections on ‘African modernity’ presented by Africanist scholars. It argues that there is more cross-over between these discussions than is commonly thought when both are seen as parallel responses to the shortcomings of post-war modernization theory. Eisenstadt’s work can inform debates in African Studies concerning the effective power of tradition in postcolonial African societies, and on African interpretations of the ‘cultural programme’ of modernity. The article also discusses some weaknesses in Eisenstadt’s theorizing which arise from an extension of the multiple modernities framework to African societies, namely, an underappreciation of the various modalities of colonial imperialism and racialization, as well as the institutional constraints placed on postcolonial societal elites. It claims that these can be offset via a dialogue with the work of scholars in African Studies. Moreover, it is argued that the paradigm of multiple modernities can more satisfactorily shed light on African trajectories of modernity via the retrieval of tenets of Eisenstadt’s ‘heterodox’ modernization theory and work on post-traditionality, outlined in the 1960s and the 1970s, which include specific reflections on African societies.

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“…Probably, the Comaroffs were the first Africanists to declare: "There are, in short, many modernities" (Comaroff and Comaroff 1993, p. xi). This line of reasoning was continued in their own and others' publications, including those in which colonial and post-colonial Africa (in general or at the level of individual states) is discussed directly in the context of the "multiple modernities" conception (e.g., Comaroff and Comaroff 1997;Ferguson 1999;Deutsch et al 2002;Nkwi 2015;Wagner 2015;Palmer 2018aPalmer , 2018bImafidon 2020). Importantly for our discussion in this article, the multiple modernities conception is very well compatible with the theories that consider colonial and post-colonial societies as specific socio-cultural forms whose uniqueness is predetermined historically, by the unprecedented way of their appearance (e.g., Wallerstein 1966;Balandier 1970;Mbembe 2005;Bhambra 2007;Osterhammel 2010;Mamdani 2018).…”