Teaching and Review Essay
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Latest update: December 16, 2000
Curran or
Takata.
Dr. Mazrui's Writings:
- Islamic and Western Values by Dr. Ali A. Mazrui. Online article that will give you a sense of Mazrui's post-colonial position.
Review Essay:
- On Mazrui's Post-Colonial Views
Additinal Information:
- Ali A. Mazrui, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
- Ali Mazrui's The Africans: A Triple Heritage The UCLA holdings on Mazrui's "most popular and controversial work. . . in 1986 for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and the United States Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)."
- "A Preliminary Response to Ali Mazrui's Preliminary Critique of Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Copyright, December 2000: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata. "Fair Use" encouraged. Wecome to quote. Review Essay on The Africans
Professor Mazrui, cited by Edward Said (at p. 38 0f Culture AND Imperialism, 1994 Vintage Books edition.), described in The Africans how "African history was made up of three elements . . . : the native African experience, the experience of Islam, and the experience of imperialism." This perspective reflects Said's perspective that "empire" still permeates our thinking through the unstated assumptions that lay behind it.
In Mazrui's Islamic and Western Values there is considerable detailed argument on the ways in which dominant discourse dictates philosophical and ethical positions. Mazrui highlights the inconsistencies, reminding us of Robert K. Merton's moral alchemy:
"I am firm.
Thou art obstinate.
He is pig-headed.". . . .