If the structure of African societies is changing, then cultural values assuredly are also adapting and evolving. Etounga-Manguelle summarizes the conventional starting point for understanding cultural values on the continent: “African thought rejects any view of the individual as an autonomous and responsible being … the African can only bloom and develop through social and family life.” According to this familiar formula, members of kin groups are encouraged, from childhood onward, to define their identities and behaviors in terms of obligations to a community. Goran Hyden gives pride of place to such indigenous norms when he depicts traditional rural life in terms of an “economy of affection,” which is based on “the principle of reciprocity embedded in customary rules.”

Against this background, however, Africans have been thrust into a modern world where, starting with formal education and extending through wage employment, they perform as individuals. It would be a mistake to assume that socialization into indigenous norms leaves people entirely unprepared for such challenges. With reference to child-rearing practices, Weisner notes that “individualism, autonomy, self-reliance, and self-expression are also encouraged … there are children and families throughout Africa ready to engage in new forms of market activity and civic life.” In deconstructing the idea of an “economy of affection,” Lemarchand makes a powerful case that reciprocity and cooperation are based as much on self-interest as on altruism.