Impact Of Globalization In African Family

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1.5 GLOBALIZATION AND AFRICAN FAMILY
Globalization not only affects politics, economics, and religion, culture, etc., but also families, i.e., the nucleus of every society. Family is considered a basic cell of the society. All social and cultural practices find their connection with a notion of family, either supporting or distorting it. Family plays a crucial role in Africa. Mbiti says that “each person in African traditional life lives in or as a part of the family”. It is true in African culture because every new born child is linked to the tribe of father or mother. So, it less possible to find a child is being orphan. Relatives of the child accept it as part of their family. Kisembo asserts that “the family community was the fundamental element of the African, this basic sphere of action, through which he became integrated with the larger, human community… he always acted from within the sphere of the family”.
An African family is never understood as consisting of father, mother and child. It is more than that. It includes relatives to all degrees on both sides and also those who become members of the family by covenant and alliance. Therefore it is meaningless to consider it as an extended family than one big family.
In African tradition, the families are well rooted in God and creation. The life style of an individual is determined by his/her relation with God and his creation. Africans have a threefold understanding of family. They are living, dead and unborn.

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