Ali A. Mazrui [Ressource électronique] : a postmodern Ibn Khaldun?

Is Ali A. Mazrui the incarnation of Ibn Khaldun in our times? Despite the passage of centuries since the time of Ibn Khaldun his works have begun to be appreciated as relevant to our times. Although more than 600 years separate Ibn Khaldun (1332- 1406) and Ali Mazrui (1933-), the two Muslim thinkers appear to share in common a number of features. The purpose of this essay is not to compare point by point the works or the personalities of Ibn Khaldun with that of Ali Mazrui, although such a comparison would be neither unprofitable nor beyond the bounds of possibility. The analysis done in the article is limited to the assessment of some of the grand theoretical and substantive contributions of Ali A. Mazrui to the study of international relations and to the assessment of where Mazruiana fits within the postmodernist school of thought. Mazruiana refers in this essay to the multifaceted works of Ali Mazrui in the fields of international relations, comparative politics, political theory and philosophy, sociology, socio-linguistics and literary studies. This was how the late Omari Kokole used the term and we shall adhere to that usage in this paper. The essay presents a view of one Mazruphile, first, on the origins and methodology of Mazruiana and, then, on the place of Mazrui in the community of international relations scholars.