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The Modernization of Liberia
| Article
# : |
10174 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1986 |
3,481 Words |
| Author
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Brahima D. Kaba
Brahima D. Kaba is professor of anthropology and sociology at
the University of Liberia. His doctorate is from Boston
University. |
In order to assess fully the process of modernization in Liberia it is useful to delineate two social groups within Liberian society. Relationships between these groups, the indigenous native population and the Americo-Liberians, are significantly affected by the transformation of the social, political, and economic environment caused by modernization.
These groups have had vastly different rates of progress since the establishment of the Liberian state in 1847. Americo-Liberians, motivated by a strong desire for liberty, and influenced by American and Christian values, have been more successful - in a modernization process that is essentially Western in character - than has the indigenous population.
Native Liberians have progressed more slowly, primarily because none of the elements of modernization were active in Liberia before the advent of the settlers. Modernization is an essentially imposed, external phenomena that has acted upon, and transformed, traditional Liberian society. It did not develop out of forces or pretensions inherent within that society.
This paper deals with the historical context of Liberian development and is drawn from historical data. Consequently, it does not comment on recent political developments in the country. Its purpose is to inform the reader of the unique social problems confronting Liberia, problems that all Liberian governments have striven to resolve.
Liberia, with surface of 43,000 square miles, is situated on the west coast of Africa at the southwest extremity of the western bulge of the continent. The country was founded in 1847. Its neighboring countries are Sierra Leone to the west, the Republic of Guinea to the north, and Ivory Coast to the east.
Topographically, Liberia consists of three distinct belts: the coast, the forest, and the plateau of the hinterland. An even coastline of 355 miles with a powerful surf, rocky cliffs, and bar-enclosed lagoons, makes access from the Atlantic Ocean difficult except at the four modern ports. The interior hills and mountain ranges, with altitudes from 600 to 1,200 evergreen in the south or semi-deciduous rainforest in the north. The country's greatest elevations are located in the northern highlands, where the Nimba Mountain stretches to 4,540 feet above sea level, and the Wologisi range reaches 4,530 feet.
The climate is tropical and humid. There are
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