Consciencism

Consciencism is a philosophy based on a set of philosophical statements penned by Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972). According to Nkrumah, Africans everywhere share historical bonds, cultural bonds, and common aspirations for unity, but colonialism and enslavement interrupted the expression of this shared heritage and generated a cultural confusion rectifiable only by the ethical imposition of conscience. Nkrumah therefore presented consciencism as a way of beginning to resolve what he saw as the crisis of the African conscience. The statements that detail the philosophy were intended as a theoretical basis for an ideology that synthesizes the African experience. The elements of this synthesis are (1) traditional African society, which is understood as the base of the African experience and is used to filter other experiences through; (2) Islam's effect on the worldwide African community; and (3) the Euro-Christian impact on that community. Nkrumah sought to use this ideological formula to engender a harmonious development of African society.

[Page 196]Pan-Africanism was described by Nkrumah as the total liberation and unification of Africa under a socialist union government. He envisioned this objective as the only sure way of achieving the rapid transformation of African society that would ensure a better chance in life for Africans everywhere. The process of emancipating and unifying the African world required a pan-African ideology for guidance and support. The most impressive models of rapid transformation at the time were the Soviet Union and China. Each of those societies had chosen a socialist form of governance in opposition to the capitalist culture of the Western European colonial powers. Nkrumah thus added socialism to the definition of pan-Africanism and attributed this addition to what he called the African personality. He explained socialism as evolutionary in African societies rather than revolutionary, as such societies had already experienced similar principles of human relations in their communalistic organization and ways of life.

Nkrumah described the African personality as an expression of a reawakened consciousness among Africans and African descendants that could only reach its full potential when Africa reached panAfricanism. The African personality was seen as an essential characteristic of the African nation rather than as a particular state, language, religion, political system, or skin color. Furthermore, Nkrumah asserted that the African personality would be projected in the international community after the liberation and unity of Africa was completed.