A Life of “Long Debate”: a Tribute to Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014)
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A life of “Long Debate”: A Tribute to Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014) M. Akif KAYAPINAR* Thus he once told his interlocutor in the only realistic way yielding to the an interview, as reported in the New York elimination of nuclear threat was actual Times, “My life is a long debate”. As a nuclear proliferation all over the world. spirited Africanist, a conscientious public Only then, maintained Mazrui, could the intellectual, a prolific writer, a passionate disproportional power of the West have teacher, and as an admirable personality been balanced and the injustices towards with high self-confidence, Professor Ali A. the poor Third World countries have been Mazrui left behind him, when he passed prevented. away on 13 October 2014, voluminous and highly influential publications- Another surprising, as well as including more than thirty books and ambitious, solution he offered for the hundreds of articles- thousands of prevailing injustices in the world today students, and a strong legacy of “debate” was a world-federation of cultures, against global injustices. His life-long which he believed to be more applicable struggle was more specifically directed and desirable than an order based against abuses of power and violation of purely on the distribution of power human rights, whether by great powers and security concerns. In his highly of the world, like the United States or by influential work, A World Federation of leaders of unprivileged countries, such as Cultures: An African Perspective, Mazrui Idi Amin of Uganda. argued that a federation of pluralistic yet What made him a distinguished public complementary cultures could mitigate intellectual were, most probably, his both domestic and international capacity, originality, and willingness to conflicts, through a parallel process of, articulate ideas completely alien to the what he called, “cultural convergence.” mainstream conventional wisdom in This cultural federation is based on the West. The mainstream intellectual three principles: “first, an acceptance community was shocked, for example, of cultural interdependence among the when during the BBC’s prestigious constituent parts; second, an acceptance Reith Lectures he defended the idea that of the principle of parity of esteem among the constituent cultural units…; and * Assist. Prof., Istanbul Şehir University. third, a promotion at a federal level of E-mail: [email protected] ‘cultural fusion’ which is the equivalent 213 PERCEPTIONS, Winter 2014, Volume XIX, Number 4, pp. 213-214. M. Akif Kayapınar of sharing the central powers of sovereign Britain, Professor Mazrui preferred to in a political federation.” Mazrui’s study political science at Manchester appreciation of the role and significance University. Having graduated from of culture in world politics, long before Manchester University with Distinction, Samuel Huntington, should also be seen Mazrui continued his post-graduate as an indication of the originality of his studies at Columbia University and thought and perceptiveness of his mind. obtained a Ph.D. degree from Oxford His ethical position and logic of University. Professor Mazrui’s remarkable criticism was reasonably balanced and education background helped him to unprejudiced, as well as robust and secure a respected--though not always smart. As one might have predicted, liked--position within the mainstream for example, Salman Rushdie’s highly intellectual community and increased controversial 1988 novel could not the degree of the impact of his criticisms escape his sharp criticism. Yet, at the of the systemic powers and applications. same time, as an adamant advocate of Professor Mazrui served in political science the freedom of expression, his strong departments and centers of African studies opposition to the death sentence passed at several universities, including Makerere on Rushdie by the Ayatollah Khomeini University in Uganda, Cornell University was similarly unequivocal. in New York, and the University of Professor Mazrui’s personal self-esteem Michigan in Ann Arbor. Professor Mazrui and intellectual courage and willingness was the Albert Schweitzer Professor at to wrestle with these sorts of controversial Binghamton University in New York issues may partly be attributed to his when he died at the age of 81. family background as well as personal Apart from Africa, of which Professor traits. Born in Mombasa, Kenya, Mazrui was one of the best-known Professor Mazrui came from a politically specialists all over the world, his books and intellectually powerful family. His and scholarly articles explored topics like father, Sheikh Al-Amin Ali Mazrui, was international politics, political Islam, an eminent Islamic scholar of the region and globalization. In 2005, the American and the clan that the family belonged to journal, Foreign Policy, nominated Ali had ruled Mombasa for over a century A. Mazrui among the top 100 public until 1837. Father Mazrui, who died when Professor Mazrui was fourteen, had intellectuals alive in the world as a whole. wanted his son to follow his own path Thus, Ali A. Mazrui had a life of long and, to this end, to attend the Al-Azhar debate, which was probably an inevitable University in Cairo. However, having burden of his triple heritage: indigenous been awarded a scholarship to travel to Africa, Islam, and the West. 214.