In 1980, 35 years after the formation of the United Nations (UN), the Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu warned that “unrestricted industrial urbanization is contrary to any humane culture; it is certainly contrary to our own”. Personhood, he believed, could only be attained if an individual married economic success with a responsibility to community: humanity could only fl ourish through the enrichment gained from shared social capital.
The UN was established for the purpose of constructive cooperation in the aftermath of the trauma of World War II; an invitation to the people of every nation to heal and rebuild this personhood, in themselves and in others, after years of brutal, dehumanizing conflict. “You, members of this Conference, are to be the architects of a better world,” counselled President Harry Truman to the General Assembly, weeks before witnessing the signing of the UN Charter in June 1945. “In your hands, rests our
