Nietzsche’s Idea of the ‘Will to Power’ and its Implications for Globalization and African Cultural Values

Abstract

The Will to Power represents Nietzsche’s critical, analytic, deconstructive and interpretive tool, while globalization designate a doctrinal process of advancement and increase in interaction among countries, facilitated by progressive technological development, communication, knowledge and skills, as well as interaction of cultural values, systems and practices. Globalization, as a doctrine, has brought with it both negative and positive values, and has invariably posed serious challenges to Africa in relation to the erosion of her cultural values, especially, her most cherished cultural values. This challenge becomes very significant, especially with regards to the fact that these values are Western oriented and, in most cases, not congenial with the African cultural milieu. The implication of this phenomenon is the increase in the rate of cultural adulteration of Africa by the West and her epistemic dependency on the Western world. In line with the above, the problem this paper tackles is how to harness the positive values of globalization while, at the same time, checkmating its ugly effects on African cultural values. The main purpose of the paper is to provide a way of tackling the challenges posed by globalization, on African values system, while strategically mapping out a way of harnessing its positive principles. Using the method of historical hermeneutics and textual analysis/exposition, this paper argues that Nietzsche’s principle of the Will to Power, as a deconstructive and analytic principle, constitutes a sifting tool towards harnessing the positive values of globalization on African culture while, at the same time, checkmating its ugly menace.

Keywords: globalization, will to power, superman, nihilism, perspectivism, democracy, politics of subjectivity, revaluation of values, cultural adulteration, critical literacy and epistemic dependency.

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-20-08

Publication date:October 31^st 2019