ABSTRACT
In the African situation ideologies sometimes were profoundly conditioned by religion. Both Islam and Christianity as systems of ideas came to Africa from the earliest days of the religions. This chapter address the entry of liberal and capitalist ideas, with reference to their mutual interconnection. It examines the rise of modern nationalism, considers its initial alliance with socialism and discusses the persistent and resilient phenomenon of traditionalism. The monetization of African economic habits began to lay the foundation of future African capitalism. The indigenous African arrangements were sometimes based on subsistence. One international ideology to have played a significant part in Africa’s modern history is European socialism, with special reference to the Marxist intellectual tradition. While liberalism had included elements of nationalism, Marxism included a major theme of anti-imperialism. Like Christianity in Africa, Marxism is a monopolistic system of values. One can only be a Marxist if one rejects alternative social directions and alternative explanations of society and its dynamics.
