Summary
The task of trying to decipher and understand the identity of such a large and populous region of the planet is an extremely complicated one. If we face this, we must begin by asking ourselves: Is there really an identity? And if there is... Is it a single identity or are there many? What aspects do they have in common with each other?
When talking about Africa, it is also essential to take into account the disruption brought by the arrival of Western colonialism, and how it affected the way people expressed their culture and tradition within their communities. Was there then a change in mentality that altered the natural course of development of their own cultures? What consequences did this have for the way people related to each other and to their environment?
Once these questions have been answered, we will review the vestiges that remain of these identities in the structures of social organization and governance, and the relations between tradition and modernity, and finally open the following debate: Are African countries governed by structures in accordance with the identities that make up their community?
All these questions will be addressed by Albert Roca Álvarez, an anthropologist specialized in interactions between tradition and modernity on the African continent.
