Theorising universality in the modern world-system: the abstract, the concrete, and the case of Botswana

Abstract

There are long-standing disagreements across the humanities and social sciences regarding the relevance and necessity of using the concept of ‘universality’. The debate is often framed as a competition between acknowledging particularities of social struggles and identities, against universalising tendencies or interests across the world-system. Within these debates, universality may be conceptualised as an abstract totality that fails to apply under select con­ditions, or a banner that supersedes or squashes identities and particulars. This article reorients the debate, suggesting social theorists view universality from a fresh perspective. It acknowledges the totalising nature of global capitalism, and the unique struggles of different oppressed and exploited groups, suggesting the tensions between them are constitutive of universality itself. Critical, dialectical theories of universality emanating from interdisciplinary terrains of Africana studies, global political economy, and psychoanalysis guide us in new directions for theorising universality. I illustrate these points with a case study of struggles for justice waged by the Indigenous San of Botswana. The details of this case allow us to identify the concrete struggles of the San as an embodiment of the universal struggle for freedom within a world-system founded upon hyper-exploitation and widespread violence, often targeting African and Indigenous peoples.