Authors
Ndegwah, D.J.[1] and Kroesen,J. O.[2]
Publication date: 2012
Publisher: African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS)
Abstract
In the present ongoing development debate the moral side of development did not receive the attention it deserves. By this the authors do not mean the world should be divided in good guys and bad guys, but they point to the dimension of values and the basic attitudes, which are shaped by such values. These values and attitudes immediately affect success and failure in development projects and initiatives. The general complaint, for instance, regarding the development of Africa is that Africa is primarily lagging behind as a producer of goods. Africa is exporting raw materials, importing finished products, but it is almost nonexistent as a producer of industrial goods. That means Africa needs to industrialize and introduce technology to that end. But industrial production and transfer of technology in itself already represents and involves a complete set of attitudes, ways of relating and cooperating/ competing/managing which are alien, or at least more or less appreciated, in the traditional African value system. This is the problem that the authors of this contribution will explore. First the authors will describe why and how the introduction of modern technology and industrialization involves a particular set of values. Generally speaking, one cannot adopt technology without somehow adopting the “script” of such technology: somehow the technology and its use prescribe a particular kind of behaviour, promoting and intensifying some values, while suppressing others (Winner 1980). Sometimes such technology can even deliberately be encoded by such “scripts”. Even the design of technology is value laden, or as it is commonly expressed, it is “value sensitive”. The authors will mention examples and clarify what values are at stake. It will appear that those values do have an important social impact. They change the society deeply. Will they change the inner core, the soul of Africa? This is the next step to be taken in this contribution, that is, the answer to the question “What really is the inner core of values, assumptions, meanings and beliefs of Africa”? Some authors create quite an idealistic image of the traditional African value system, emphasizing its humanity, or Ubuntu. Others also show its limitations and negative aspects. The authors will adopt an open attitude, emphasizing the ambiguity of good and bad both in the case of the traditional African value system and in relation to Western values incorporated in technology and industrialization.
[1] This is the corresponding author. Dr. David J. Ndegwah is a Senior Lecturer philosophy and religious studies, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, P. O. Box 210, Bondo, Kenya, ndegwahdavid@gmail.com
[2] Dr. J. Otto Kroesen is anAssistant Professor ethics and intercultural communication at the Technical University Delft, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands, j.o.kroesen@tudelft.nl