Abstract

The paper critiques the Modernization Theory through an analysis of three of Ngugi’s selected works and Chihota’s short story “Shipwreck”. The paper contends that no society has ever developed on the basis of being copycats or following the philosophy of catching up. Development is inextricably linked to that society’s history, culture and the envisioned future. This paper argues that the Modernization Theory as a development model tries to push Africa by the wayside of its historical continuity and has therefore always been doomed from the start. It argues that a people’s movement into the future is context-bound because borrowed lenses do not make a people see themselves truthfully and holistically. The paper finds that both Ngugi and Chihota represent neo-liberalism as an ideological and historical continuation of the modernization theory that seeks to enforce the ‘erasure’ of the histories and cultures of African countries that was begun by ‘colonial modernity’ in the past. The paper further contends that the issues concerning any country’s economic development should not be left to the leadership alone. As the artists have hinted, every citizen has the obligation to safeguard their country’s founding national vision, philosophy and ethos. In other words, African leaders of the 21^st century should constantly be monitored for they have a propensity to co-opt foreign ideologies entirely unsuitable for their countries’ situations and contexts.

Key words: Apemanship, modernization theory, globalization, ESAPs, neoliberalism.