Renewing the Community and Fashioning the Individual

Community living is one of the most important values
of the Igbo people of Nigeria. They believe that by
living and interacting well with the world around
the individual is actualized. In and through the
community a person draws life. Outside the community
life is extremely difficult. Therefore, they expend
much time and resources creating and maintaining
harmonious living. One of the ways they do this is
through the traditional practice of communal
reconciliation. In this study, the author re-
evaluates Igbo traditional communal reconciliation
with the aim of finding out why the Igbo people
still value this practice; and how this practice
leads to authentic and lasting transformation of the
community and the individual. The author thinks that
the relationship-building strategy of Igbo
traditional communal reconciliation is relevant
not only to the Igbo but to the larger society in
forging stronger bonds between people.

Autorentext
Stan Chukwube,CSSp., studied philosophy and theology in Nigeria and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1988. He worked in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and The Netherlands. In 2008 he obtained a PhD. from Fordham University, New York. Chukwube currently works in the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT, USA. He is a member of West African Research Association.

Klappentext
Community living is one of the most important values of the Igbo people of Nigeria. They believe that by living and interacting well with the world around the individual is actualized. In and through the community a person draws life. Outside the community life is extremely difficult. Therefore, they expend much time and resources creating and maintaining harmonious living. One of the ways they do this is through the traditional practice of communal reconciliation. In this study, the author re- evaluates Igbo traditional communal reconciliation with the aim of finding out why the Igbo people still value this practice; and how this practice leads to authentic and lasting transformation of the community and the individual. The author thinks that the relationship-building strategy of Igbo traditional communal reconciliation is relevant not only to the Igbo but to the larger society in forging stronger bonds between people.