5 research outputs found
African Philosophy and Deep Ecology
No full textThis book investigates African philosophical contributions to the concept of deep ecology, which advocates for rethinking human and non-human relationships within our ecosystems, by promoting the inherent and earned worth of all beings. With ecological crises impacting lives around the world, this book interrogates deep ecology thinking from African philosophical perspectives, highlighting the continent’s important ontological, epistemological, ethical, aesthetic, and broad philosophical contributions. The book investigates issues such as the eco-phenomenology of human / non-human animals’ relations, Ubuntu and the environment, the superiorist fallacy, environmental belongingness, the impact of colonization and modernity on non-human trauma, the politics of ecological narrative about African places, the question of moral status, African socialist perspectives, the question of degrowth, selective subordination, biodiversity loss, land ethics, the ontology of waste, and the concept of personhood in relation to global climate and ecological justice. Providing a significant intervention in our understanding of the ecological crises and our duties toward ecosystems and the non-human other in the twenty-first century, this book is an important read for researchers, advocates and other stakeholders working in the fields of environmental philosophy, climate change, indigenous studies, and African Studies
Deep Ecology, Ontic Relationality, and Positionality
No full textIn this chapter, I examine and analyse the ontology of anthropogenic waste as coming-to-be from a sustained objectification, exploitation, and devaluation of the non-human by the human and from the projection of the non-human as essentially being toward human jouissance. The wanton and colossal waste of millions of tonnes of animal products, plant products, and consumable and non-consumable natural resources in a world paradoxically filled with the necessary needs for such things is on the increase and confirms the little value humans place on the non-human. Any genuine commitment to deep ecology that prioritises the intrinsic value and entitlement to exist and thrive for all beings, human and non-human, must radically rethink the hermeneutics of human wants and needs, human material and aesthetic security, and the human quest for jouissance. Such commitment must also painstakingly examine, as this chapter does concerning sub-Saharan African traditions, decolonial and indigenous knowledges of human and non-human relationships. Bearing these in mind, this chapter begins by exploring an ontology of anthropogenic waste as essentially defined by a jouissancial and an instrumental mode of being. In doing so, I analyse two defining features of this mode of being: (1) the structures of being-out-of-place and (2) the jouissance of the dissection, disembodiment, and storing-up of being. I then proceed to explore a different mode of being in indigenous African places, one that is characterised by a strong value for being-in-place – ontic positionality, and being-together – ontic relationality. Focussing on African indigenous healthcare systems, I show the value of a positional and relational ontology in community in promoting relationships among all beings and sustaining wellbeing. The chapter concludes by highlighting the need to rethink our capitalist and industrial structures if the goal to radically reinterpret the value of the non-human is to be taken seriously
Africa and the epistemic normativity of disability
No full textThe scientific and medical understanding of disability dominates disability studies and discourses today as the ideal explanatory model, with less attention paid to the normative constructions of disability, such as the social, historical, and philosophical constructions of disability that emerge from different contexts and places. But as Critical Disability Studies show, the scientific model is only one of the lenses through which we can understand disability and other normative lenses are crucial for understanding and improving the lived experiences and realities of persons with disabilities. This chapter develops a decolonial and inclusive approach to disability studies in Africa, paying close attention to the normativity of disability in sub-Saharan African cultures. In particular, it focuses on the Afro-communitarian epistemic framework on which disability is constructed in sub-Saharan Africa, showing its intersectional complexity in relation to identity, personhood, gender, class, and body. The decolonial, intersectional, and inclusive approach to disability studies in sub-Saharan Africa shows that while Afro-communitarianism provide a hermeneutic framework for understanding the negative and exclusionary normativity of, and experience of, disability in African places, it also provide a basis for theorising a humanistic and inclusive approach to disability in contemporary African communities
Ageing, Ageism, Cultural Representations of the Elderly and the Duty to Care in African Traditions
Get PDFAgeing as a natural process leads one gradually to a life’s stage where one becomes frail and elderly. In this life’s stage, due primarily to the wearing out of the body system, a number of health-related challenges arise. Such may include weakening of the bones which would affect body physique and structure, partial loss of memory, and poor vision. It is thus expected that the frail and elderly would be in need of more care and would become more dependent on the young and energetic class of the society who has the duty and moral responsibility to care. In this essay, we examine a disturbing cultural representation or ideology common in many sub-Saharan African societies, an ideology that is counterproductive to the health and well-being of the frail and elderly and causes stigma, discrimination and harm to such persons. It is the worldview that the frail and elderly are in some way and in some respect harmful to the class of younger persons and they remain alive by, through the practice of witchcraft, taking the lives of younger persons in the family, kin or community. This disturbing belief becomes a source of stigma, discrimination and harm against the frail and elderly, especially in situations where younger persons in a community, kin or family die before the frail and elderly person. In this essay, with reference to specific scenarios and examples where such cultural representations have resulted in the harming of frail and elderly persons, we analyse the extent to which such beliefs hinder our duty to care for the elderly in contemporary African societies. We begin by conceptualising the nature of ageing and the aged or old, paying specific attention to how biological understanding of these concepts and stages of life for human beings may be quite different from cultural and social representations and understanding of such as human history shows. We then proceed to examine the nature and basis of cultural representations of the elderly in specific African communities using specific examples and examining the paradox between African respect for community elders and seeming cases of disrespect for the very frail and elderly. We further discuss the moral duty and responsibility to care for the elderly by the younger persons in the community. We then show how this disturbing trend is perpetuated both by traditional beliefs and representations and modern religious beliefs such as those in Pentecostalism. We conclude by showing why the pursuit of enlightenment is needed to curb this growing and disturbing treatment of the frail and elderly in sub-Saharan African societies
Re-examining the Eurocentric Descriptions of Africa and the Imperative of Black Hypothesis
Get PDFThe description of Africa and Africans during the Enlightenment period by philosophers like David Hume, Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel suggests a kind of description which denotes Africans in a derogatory sense. For instance, Africans were described in a manner which suggests that they are irrational and sub-humans. Thus, these descriptions in recent times have birthed several movements, ranging from pan-Africanism and epistemological theories such as Afrocentrism, with the Black Hypothesis being one popular but recent response to the Eurocentric description of Africa. The thrust of this paper is to critically examine the Eurocentric description of Africa from the perspectives of Hume, Kant and Hegel, and to refute their claims using the Black Hypothesis as a paradigm. The paper asserts that the racial slurs against Africans by Enlightenment philosophers cannot be scientifically proven as there exist philosophical and anthropological discovered that have shown that Africa (Egypt) is the cradle of civilization. The concluding thesis of this paper is that the Black Hypothesis is another dimension to understanding how the Eurocentric description of Africa can be rejected
