Can a Liberal Be a Chief? Can a Chief Be a Liberal?

Across Africa, it is not unusual for proponents of liberal democracy and modernisation to make room for some aspects of indigenous culture, such as the use of a chief as a political figure. Yet for Olúfémi Táíwò, no such accommodation should be made. Chiefs, he argues, in this thought-provoking and wide-ranging pamphlet, cannot be liberals - and liberals cannot be chiefs. If we fail to recognise this, we fail to acknowledge the metaphysical underpinnings of modern understandings of freedom and equality, as well as the ways in which African intellectuals can offer a distinctive take on the unfinished business of colonialism.