KISII UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF LAW

LLBK : Social foundation of law

Madam Fridah Lotiyah

Kingsley Kimathi :LA11/00007/23

THE IMPACT OF WESTERNIZATION ON TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES AND THE LEGAL ISSUES THAT ARISE.
ABSTRACT
Culture is a vital aspect of any community of people. It is the lifestyle; the way of life; the symbolic
characteristic of a society of people. Relativistically thinking one can say that it surely reflects on individuals who
embrace it. It is “…all these historically created designs for living, explicit and impact, rational, irrational, which
existed anytime as a potential guide for the behavior of men .“1Tylor [1871] in his work “Primitive Culture “ defines
culture as that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws customs, and any other
capabilities acquired by human beings in society [Igwe 2010,p.156) Therefore from these descriptions, it can be
deduced that cultures are essentially part of people, materially and immaterially. In this age of modernization or
rather globalization, the world has been described as a ‘global village’. In this latter sense, a philosophical question
arises: do we have the same culture now that the world is a global village? Well, this essay focuses on such
analyses for it is undisputable that cultures of many societies have been changed over the years due to
Westernization-the adoption of that which is considered Western culture2. The Americans and the Europeans have
been credited majorly with this as seen through colonization or contemporarily, influence on consumption
patterns and other aspects of life like law and politics, social values, and economic values. The discussion here will
critically analyze these influences and the legal issues it raises

INTRODUCTION
African cultures are the most rooted in the world but in a way, they cannot escape the influential muscle
of Westernization in some of its aspects. The total sum Culture is adhered to very strictly and quite rigid as
communities strive to transmit it from one generation to another as their social heritage. This portrays the holistic
nature of African cultures, which should contribute to the sustainability and development process. Nevertheless,
today’s African societies have been highly influenced by Western culture, whether with merit or otherwise. It is to
be noted that when exposed to global culture, societies display the ability to respond defiantly to a wide variety of
clothing, architectural styles, songs even television series in a way congenial to their indigenous cultural traditions.
3
The degree of adaption and fusion with Western customs will occur at varying magnitudes with different

1
Kluchohn and other,1998,p.44
2
Thong ,Tezenlo( July 2012).
3
Sida 1997,p.30
communities.4 What has been born of this has been collusion with some cultural aspects such as Religion, politics,
and leadership and social aspects like family, gender rights, and economics -all of which bring up matters of law.

AFRICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

In African societies, there are laws, customs, regulations, rules, taboos, and others which constitute the
moral code and ethics. They govern the behaviors of its members to ensure peace is established at all times. The
members of a community are bound and governed by these elements when in social and economic interactions.
There were mechanisms for conflict resolution arising from ‘…localized and culture-specific disputes’ such as
mediation, adjudication, reconciliation, arbitration, and negotiations among many others, which were adopted in
the pre-colonial period. The role of conflict resolution was upon certain tribunals -elders, chiefs,
priests/priestesses, secret cults, etc. The Meru community for instance had specially ordained elders called Njuri
ncheeke who people put their trust in solving conflicts. It is worth noting that many Africans employed ancestral
forces which ensured that truth was always told thus avoiding any prejudice/partiality.

Westernization has brought in complex legal issues following colonialization which brought unrest among
African communities and other contemporary issues like globalization which has caused economic inequality
leading to more complex vices -industrial espionage and other cyber security concerns and terrorism. Conflicts arise
in multi-ethnic societies thus; conflict resolution becomes a complex issue principally due to the determinate
effects of culture and language symbolism. As Airuch and Black [Onigun and Albert,2001,p.16) state “It is quite
dangerous to relegate culture to the background in conflict resolution. “legal concerns arise here making some of
African conflict resolution methods ineffective in today's world. Thus, western culture is embraced by emphasizing
a judicial system presided over by lawyers and judges disregarding the traditional African use of council of elders,
king’s courts, and people-open assemblies for dispute resolution and justice dispensation (Nwolise,2005,p.155)

AFRICAN RELIGION
The African religion is characterized by a supreme being and other spiritual intermediaries such as
ancestors and other divinities. The dead are believed to be part of the community and therefore affect various
societal practices. Africa’s sacred places of worship would include under certain trees, caves, and other naturally
unique places. The worship was led by certain individuals -priests and elders and everyone was bound by these
religious beliefs with fear of curses and punishments by the majority.

Westernization has influenced the African belief systems severely and there are some legal issues like
rights and freedoms to worship and other religious rights that have arisen. During the colonial era, the West
assimilated and coerced the adaptation of their beliefs like Christianity and Islam which are very dominant in
Africa. Despite this, some other Africans have blended their practices of worship with these Abrahamic religions
4
McLeish ,Kenneth (1993).
(Mbiti, John S,1992 )5. The legal frameworks have been concerned with religion. In Kenya, the Constitution
provides that individuals shall not be compelled to act or engage in any act contrary to their belief or religion.
However, the law provides some limitations to these religious beliefs but then only in a reasonable and justifiable
democratic space. (International Religious Freedom Report for 2022)

AFRICAN TRADITIONAL ECONOMY

Before colonization, there was no monetary economy in Africa but rather a simple and subsistence
distributive economic system. People shared what they had in exchange for what they lacked. There was virtually
no competition, and transactions were carried out through the exchange of goods and services.

Westernization has brought in a monetary economy that has been essentially adopted in its full scale. Business
thrives due to this and every aspect of life is defined much by monetary strength. The African societies have shifted
to a more capitalist nature and individual responsibility for their well-being, unlike the traditional way of sharing
fruits of labor. The legal issues that have risen from these include labor rights and land rights.67 Trade agreements
have been set up to govern trading but some have been criticized for downplaying African economic markets.

COMMUNISM AND SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM

Communism is based on the goalmouth of eliminating socioeconomic class struggles by creating a
classless society in which everyone shares the benefits of labor. In the African set up people shared virtually
everything and cared for one another. For example, in communities that thrive from farming, members used to
own and cultivate land communally without regard to any social variances. There is a mutual assistance for each
other. The haves help those who do not have so that no one perishes because of wants while his next-door
neighbor lives in affluence. Either way, women received little privilege as compared to men, and this today is seen
as a gross illegality

However, westernization has brought in capitalism whereby individualism is embraced. Social classes have
emerged and the economically deprived are looked down upon .legal issues have to do with income inequality,
gender equity in accessing opportunities, and other rights that protect one from social and economic
discrimination. Moreover, laws on market monopolies and consumer protection have been implemented to ensure
fair competition and avoid any deceptive practices.

5
Mbiti, John S,(1992)
6
Land Act ,2012 NO.6 of 2012
7
The constitutional of Kenya (2010) articles(1),(2(a,b,c,d)),(3(e,f)),(4(a,b,c)),( 5)
MARRIAGE INSTITUTION AND THE FAMILY SYSTEM
The African marriage was polygamous and ideally meant to last for a lifetime. The family system in Africa
is rather extended. It narrowly consists of a man and a wife and their children. However, in African families the
perception is wider, consisting of all blood-related members units are the basic systems of a community. It is the
cradle of human society and the nursery ground of moral values. The family property was controlled and owned by
the man of the house. Rights on inheritance were enjoyed only by males which in today’s society, is a matter of
illegality based on human rights.

The Western culture promotes a nuclear family set up with equal rights for its members. Individuals have
the liberty of having a family not unlike the mandatory need to have a family in African society. In recent years
LGBTQ+ rights have been emphasized globally and this impacted the African perception of marriage. Laws on
inheritance, marriage, and divorce, and rights to children, women, and the LGBTQ+ community have been born
from Western influence on African marriage and family systems.8 9

CONCLUSION
Conclusively, it should be noted that Westernization has brought in laws that conflict with African

customary law to a large extent. In another sense, westernization can be seen as an acculturation and

enculturation. 10It has been of value in some aspects such as technology but still culturally detrimental to Africans.

Nonetheless, its adoption calls for more legal interventions to overlook its wide aspects and ensure the African

culture is not eroded

REFERENCES

8
Matrimonial act No 49 of 2013
9
The Children Act 2022
10
“Acculturation”. Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology .oxford: Elsevier science &technology . “acculturation is “the process of cultural and
psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual members.”
“Westernization” available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westernization accessed on 03/04/2024

“Western Culture” available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western culture accessed on 03/04/2024

Thong ,Tezenlo( July 2012). “ ‘To raise the savage to a Higher level’: The Westernization of Nagas and their
culture.”

McLeish, Kenneth (1993). “Westernization .” Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought.Bloomsbury

Publications

Mbiti, John S,(1992) Introduction to African religion.East African publishers