Values Of Ubuntu Research Articles

Problematizing Minor Transnational Identities And Patterns Of Othering In Meg Vandermerwe’s Zebra Crossing

Abstract In her debut novel, Zebra Crossing, Meg Vandermerwe privileges the voice of Chipo Nyamubaya, an albino girl from Zimbabwe, to capture the gripping and tragic experiences of African immigrants in South Africa. This article problematizes the notion of minor transnational identities by interrogating the relationships between South Africans and those they refer to as outsiders, and the relationship between the African immigrants themselves vis-à-vis culturally held beliefs about albinos and LGBTs. In the process, we demonstrate the patterns of the idea of Otherness brought about by racism, xenophobia, homophobic prejudice and insensitive discrimination. The article reveals how Othering debunks the ideology of African connectedness by bringing out the apparent contradictions in the values of Ubuntu.

Ethical dilemmas in education: a case study of challenges faced by secondary school leaders in Kenya

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to question the usefulness of Euro-Western concepts of principled ethical behaviour for school leaders in non-Euro-Western countries by examining the dilemmas faced by Kenyan educational leaders. Design/methodology/approach A single, multi-site case study methodological approach was used, and data gathered by means of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders: school principals, boards of governors, heads of department, school bursars and parents. Findings Findings highlighted the importance of contextual variables in influencing leaders’ decisions, indicative of the tension between liberal and communitarian ethical approaches. Although similar dilemmas were encountered to those working in euro-western contexts, Kenyan educational leaders faced the additional challenge of working with cultural values of Ubuntu: care for the whole community, harmonious working relationships, loyalty to one’s kin and respect of seniority. Furthermore, the problems they encountered were often life-threatening resulting from poverty, and HIV/Aids. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on ethics in educational leadership by proposing that the adoption of euro-western ethical standards and perspectives in non-Euro-Western countries is problematic, unless mitigated by a dialogic approach.

Ethics education in prison: a pilot study on an ethics programme for offenders

Education is a fundamental process of human life with ethics having an important place in all areas of our life. It is thus important to incorporate ethics into education as a subject (Gulcon Procedia-Social and Behavioural Science 174: 2622–2625, 2014). Reports have indicated in how “teaching philosophy can enhance people’s capacity for critical (rather than emotional) thinking, encourage critical engagements with ideas of self, and improve interpersonal skills, with these being important transferable skills that could help prisoners to prosper once released” (Reported by The University of Edinburg n.d.). This is in line with the South African prison system’s mandate, which is to maintain and promote a just, peaceful and safe society by correcting offending behaviour in a safe, secure and human environment, thus facilitating optimal rehabilitation and reduced repeat offending (Department of Correctional Services 2017). Therefore, for the system to fulfil some of its mandate; ethics education in prison for the purpose of rehabilitating offender’s moral thinking and reasoning in order to correct their behaviour before being released is vital. Ethics training was done at the Johannesburg Correctional Service, with a maximum of 40 voluntary participants (who self-selected themselves to take the training). Training was dived into three categories: 1. Tutorials. 2. Practical application of moral values of Ubuntu. 3. Discussion and debating another set of moral values as well as writing of assignments. Participants reported to have gained and learned to respect themselves as well as others (in their immediate community- prison and society at large), identify their faults (crimes they committed) and gained self-confidence. Application of this method in ethics education proved to be well received by the participants, as well as how ethics training in prison might be used as an effective tool for moral development and reasoning, thereby rehabilitation.

Democracy in Africa and Ubuntu

African democracy is often seen as an example of a failed democracy in a failed nation. The western and international organizations were lobbying for a long time to introduce Western democratic tools in the political and societal life of African Nations. This chapter is explaining how Ubuntu, its cultural values, principles and philosophy are an important core element in democratic transition. African social democracy was part of the political transition from the colonial administration to a specific democracy in Africa. The Bantu speaking countries count for almost one-third of the African Continent. The renaissance of Ubuntu values had African humanism as a compass and is based on the principle of I am because we are. The center of political and societal life is not the Western atomized individual but the African social environment and the community.The transition of democracy in Africa, following the Ubuntu principles, is not in all Bantu speaking countries the same as Africa is not one and many differences in governance and political evolutions are seen. Most countries do have a strong Civil Society with advocacy groups, Trade Unions, NGOs and Faith-based organisations with a strong communitarian approach. They have a political impact and function as a social corrector to the current political elite.Democracy in Africa has many pitfalls and underwent many changes over time. The most important hindrance is abject poverty ( the have and the have-nots) as they do not contribute to the people power or more participatory democracy. Ultra-poor people in Africa concentrate their lives on the survival and food security for the extended family.Another negative element is the state corruption and capture rife in all government and private sector organisations. Corruption, graft and fraud are the most negative aspect in the democratic transition and do not respect the most important Ubuntu value (ethics, moral leadership).An important slow but important societal change is the introduction of social media and its impact during elections in Africa. Urban youth exposed by internet to Western life and its externalities are influenced by the thinking of more atomized individuals, but still believing in some values of Ubuntu.Is Ubuntu a resistance culture with a future impact on societal and political changes? Will the Ubuntu culture and values in African humanism and the resistance by Trade Unions and the Civil society be an important countervailing power to come to a new kind of African democracy with the salient and core elements of UBUNTU? If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools. Plato

African Views of Just War in Mandela and Cabral

ABSTRACT In this article, I will carry out an epistemic and interpretative project, drawing out the implications of African values for the morality of war. More precisely, I wish to interpret the African value system and tease out some conclusions as to what this value system entails in terms of the following: the morality of when to enter war, how to act in war, and what to do after war. I carry out this inquiry by articulating the African value of Ubuntu in light of the actions and speeches of two prominent African leaders, Nelson Mandela and Amilcar Cabral.

Ubuntu Leadership: An African Panacea for Improving School Performance

Ubuntu-inspired leadership is substantial for responding, in an African way, to the needs of schools seeking to improve their performance. Evoking practices, such as letsema and social cohesion, underpins an African panacea in executing work for desired outcomes. With little extant research on the concept of ubuntu leadership, this article reports on a pioneering study that examined the extent to which infusing the value of ubuntu influences the practices of schools seeking to improve their performance. The objective was to explore measures that ubuntu leadership could take to instil values that would bring about the desired performance. Adopting an ethnographic approach, enquiring conversations were held with principals (individually), focus groups involving parents, other managers and teachers. This resulted in the triangulation of observations (formal and informal) and document analysis. The findings revealed three aspects epitomising ubuntu leadership, namely: holistic ubuntu deportment in leadership practice; cohesive oneness embodied by ubuntu and values within; and voluntarism as an enterprising exercise of letsema. The article concludes by chronicling a leadership charter towards harvesting the cliché simunye or esprit-de-corps.

A better life through networks and support? Vulnerable people living in a new human settlement in Grahamstown

This article considers the association between social networks, social capital and social support for a group of poor and vulnerable people. It is based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Grahamstown/Rini located in the Eastern Cape. The study reveals that most households do not rely on social networks as the primary means of survival but on grants and (to a lesser extent) wages. Social security networks are only accessible to those who can afford regular membership contributions, thereby excluding the poor. For those who can afford to be members of social security networks, the benefits are limited and they do not adequately address household needs, hence most households cannot rely on them alone. The study shows how those who cannot afford to be members of social security networks still have access to communal social support networks. Neighbours stand out as important networks in this regard. However, the informal neighbourhood support networks are restricted mainly due to issues of trust and the limitations on the poor's ability to reciprocate. Social networks make a small contribution towards strengthening neighbourly relations, trust, building community identity and promoting values of ubuntu - but when it comes to caring for one another, there is still a long way to go.

Utilising an Ubuntu-Centred Communication Management Framework to Analyse CSR Messages on SNSS

ABSTRACTThis article is the result of qualitative research conducted on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication disseminated by two financial institutions, FNB and Capitec, on their social networking sites (SNSs). The research employed a phenomenological research paradigm to explore the interactions between the financial institutions and their stakeholders on Facebook and Twitter. Collected data were analysed by means of interpretative discourse analysis as well as two computer-aided qualitative data analysis software programmes, Leximancer and Centim. The authors categorised the financial institutions’ CSR communication in themes and coded it according to a newly formulated theoretical framework of Ubuntu-centred communication practices on SNSs. It was found that FNB's CSR communication was based on Ubuntu values whereas Capitec's CSR communication did not exhibit key characteristics, such as the inclusion of narratives and archetypes, sound conflict resolution strategies, and the presentation of mutually beneficial solutions to societal issues. Based on the findings, it is proposed that organisation-stakeholder interactions can be facilitated when organisations disseminate CSR messages and constructively engage with stakeholders on SNSs. Moreover, culturally-specific communication management strategies, such as Ubuntu-centred communication, should be infused in holistic communication models to foster participatory online communities which are characterised by dialogue, mutual trust and reciprocity.

<i>Ubuntu</i> and philoxenia: <i>Ubuntu</i> and Christian worldviews as responses to xenophobia

Xenophobic attitudes and violence have become regular phenomena in South Africa and other parts of the world. Xenophobia is of great concern not only to South Africans, but also to most developed countries or countries that are considered economically and politically viable by their neighbours, and which offer a safe haven for people who, for whatever reason, are forced to seek refuge elsewhere. Although xenophobia is not unique to South Africa, its most worrying aspect in South Africa is the government’s inability to deal with this evil. The article seeks to challenge South Africa as a dominantly Ubuntu and Judeo-Christian influenced country to fight xenophobia through appealing to Ubuntu values and philoxenia. By Judeo-Christian, I mean religious beliefs and values that are common to both these religions, namely Judaism and Christianity. The article further suggests the ontology that perceives the ‘other’ as an extension of the self. It is argued that South African citizens are collectively responsible for acts of violence against foreign nationals and should thus look for a morally sustainable solution to this evil. The article relies heavily on the work of Kristeva, entitled Strangers to Ourselves, and on the work of Nussbaum, entitled Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity, in Reflections, the Society for Organizational Learning and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Africanisation of Children's Rights in South Africa: Quo Vadis?

The article seeks to demonstrate how traditional African approaches to justice pervade the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 (CJA) in ways that provide young offenders the possibility to have their dignity restored, by affording them an opportunity to take responsibility for their wrongful conduct. The article argues that this approach to justice underscores African values of Ubuntu and restorative justice in addressing offending in terms of the CJA. In the final analysis, the author argues that the successful implementation of these approaches will depend partly on how innovative officers in judicial proceedings are in using African models of justice, the values of the Constitution, and the lived experiences of children in conflict with the law.

Entrepreneurial women’s cognitive ambidexterity: Career and cultural influences

The purpose of this study was to examine how women’s career stage and Ubuntu (collectivist) values relate to their cognitive ambidexterity when pursuing entrepreneurial initiatives in multicultural South Africa. In this study individual cognitive ambidexterity was operationalised as using effectual and causal logic. More than three hundred businesswomen from diverse backgrounds were surveyed. The results revealed that career stage, self-efficacy and Ubuntu collectivism are important in women’s ambidexterity. Mature, efficacious women in their late career stage draw on their diverse networks and use effectual affordable loss, flexibility and causation when pursuing entrepreneurial initiatives. In contrast, younger, early-career women are more likely to use pre-commitment to ensure support from stakeholders. Women with Ubuntu values use their relationship skills to draw on resources from their networks and use ambidexterity (effectual and causal logic) in their entrepreneurial endeavours.The findings suggest that entrepreneurial women who develop their cognitive ambidexterity and draw on both effectual and causal approaches when initiating entrepreneurial initiatives are more likely to experience successful outcomes. These mental approaches can be developed by means of awareness, training and mentoring. This study extends the literature on women’s entrepreneurial decision-making in a culturally diverse society, demonstrating the influence of cultural values and career stage on effectual and causal logic.

Ubuntu Values Individuals: An Analysis of Eulogies of Mandela

SummaryIt has been said that the quintessentially African moral philosophy of ubuntu values community over individuals. We argue that ubuntu values community to the extent that community enables individuals to be the most that they can be. In substantiation of this view, we also contend that ubuntu values recognition of individuals. To develop this view, we present a creative and critical review of existing literature on ubuntu coupled with a close reading of eulogies of Mandela published in the mainstream English-language South African newspapers following his death.

Ubuntu and the law in South Africa

The new constitutional dispensation, like the idea of freedom in South Africa, is also not free of scepticism. Many a time when crime and criminal activity are rife, sceptics would lament the absence of ubuntu in society and attribute this absence to what they view as the permissiveness which is said to have been brought about by the Constitution with its entrenched Bill of Rights. 
 Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity and (attempt to) demonstrate the irony that the absence of the values of ubuntu in society that people often lament about and attribute to the existence of the Constitution with its demands for respect for human rights when crime becomes rife, are the very same values that the Constitution in general and the Bill of Rights in particular aim to inculcate in our society. 
 Secondly, against the background of the call for an African renaissance that has now become topical globally, I would like to demonstrate the potential that traditional African values of ubuntu have for influencing the development of a new South African law and jurisprudence. 
 The concept ubuntu, like many African concepts, is not easily definable. In an attempt to define it, the concept has generally been described as a world-view of African societies and a determining factor in the formation of perceptions which influence social conduct. It has also been described as a philosophy of life. 
 Much as South Africa is a multicultural society, indigenous law has not featured in the mainstream of South African jurisprudence. Without a doubt, some aspects or values of ubuntu are universally inherent to South Africa’s multi cultures. 
 The values of ubuntu are therefore an integral part of that value system which had been established by the Interim Constitution. 
 The founding values of the democracy established by this new Constitution arguably coincide with some key values of ubuntu(ism). 
 Ubuntu(-ism), which is central to age-old African custom and tradition however, abounds with values and ideas which have the potential of shaping not only current indigenous law institutions, but South African jurisprudence as a whole. 
 Ubuntu can therefore become central to a new South African jurisprudence and to the revival of sustainable African values as part of the broader process of the African renaissance.

CRITICAL RACE THEORY-INFUSED CURRICULA TRANSFORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING

This article seeks to situate curriculum transformation in the South African learning environment on the landscape of critical race theory. The article acknowledges that the need for curriculum transformation in South Africa is a matter beyond any contestation. However, it argues that what has been lacking to date is the absolute resolve on the theory or philosophy that underpins the transformation agenda – which to a certain extent has reduced curriculum transformation to superficial infusion of the principles and values of uBuntu in the curricular; and the drive towards decolonisation of the curricular without much tangible alternative being offered. As part of the execution of the study in this article the author critically examines the literature on critical race theories critical the theory, and examines the applicability of this theory as the bar that underpins curriculum transformation. The researcher contextualises this article with reference to curriculum development agenda at the College of Law of the University of South Africa where he is an academic in the discipline of law. Keywords: Africanisation, Curriculum transformation, Critical Race Theory, Decolonisation, Indigenisation,UBuntu, Institutions of Higher Learning, South Africa.

Provisional notes on ubuntu for journalists covering war

There is a growing pool of literature on the implications for journalism of the African moral philosophy of ubuntu. However, little of this literature is framed around the conception that the world is fundamentally violent and/or that communication itself is violent, focusing on the idea of harmonious life. This article contributes to changing this, insisting that valuing of harmonious community relations should neither involve denying the violence within which communities are established nor the taking for granted of any “we.” After all, communication is violent and failing to conceptualize African journalistic practice in ways that are consistent with how Africans inordinately experience violence is concerning. With special interest in news regarding violent, I draft a provisional understanding of news that reflects values of ubuntu, tentatively conceptualizing news values inspired by ubuntu, and advocating an ubuntu-informed normative account of how journalists should cover conflict, war, and possibilities regarding peace.

Interrupting separateness, disrupting comfort: An autoethnographic account of lived religion, <i>ubuntu</i> and spatial justice

This article uses a fictionalised encounter as the basis for an autoethnographic exploration of the intersections between the South African social value of ubuntu and the notion of spatial justice. Ubuntu describes the interconnectedness of human lives. It asserts that a person is only a person through other people, a recognition that calls for deep respect, empathy and kindness. Ubuntu is expressed in selfless generosity and sharing. The spatial turn in the social sciences and humanities has resulted in a concern with the relationship between space and justice. It recognises that space is not simply an empty container in which people live and act, but is something that is constructed by social relations – and simultaneously constitutive of them. While this recognition gives rise to spatial perspectives on justice, what constitutes spatial, justice, as distinct from other notions of justice, and how such justice is to be achieved are contested. Building on the work of legal scholar, Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, on spatial justice, I argue that the notion of ubuntu is able to shape our understanding of spatial justice, and when practised, it is able to disrupt space and challenge dominant spatial configurations.

Moving beyond a destructive past to a decolonised and inclusive future: The role of ubuntu-style education in providing culturally relevant pedagogy for Namibia

Namibia has one of the most dehumanising and destructive colonial pasts of any nation in Africa, or, for that matter, the world. Before colonisation, the area now known as Namibia was home to diverse cultural groups. The successive colonial regimes of Germany and South Africa inflicted genocide, brutality and apartheid on the region. Namibia finally fought for and won its independence in 1990 – over three decades after Ghana became the first independent sub-Saharan nation in 1957. Today, Namibia strives to leave behind its troubled past and harness the power of education to provide greater equality of opportunity and quality of life for all of its citizens. The concept of ubuntu, with its emphasis on inclusiveness, equity and equality, is central to Namibia’s pursuit of this goal. Significant challenges stand in its way, including extreme poverty, an emerging economy struggling with drought and a competitive world market, and a populace with multiple mother tongues and cultural traditions. After a brief summary of Namibia’s colonial past, this study examines these challenges, noting that the same factors that provide Namibia with a rich and diverse cultural tapestry also pose great difficulties for educators determined to provide equitable education for all. Current inequities in Namibian education are assessed, with a particular focus on the divide between urban and rural Namibia and between the four major ethnic and cultural groupings: the White Afrikaans speakers, the Black African majority, the Coloured population, and the Basters. The study concludes by suggesting multiple ways in which education could be brought closer into line with ubuntu values. The author argues that the very same factors that currently pose challenges to the quality and equity of Namibian education (ethnicity, urban/rural location, gender and socioeconomic class) might, if seen from a new perspective, become the basis for educational transformation.

The Other Side of Social Networks: An Ubuntu Approach

The study provides the results of a content based analysis carried out on one hundred and fifty Face book profiles. Using the tenets of Ubuntu, the study sought to find out if the social networking communities are still abiding to the dictates of Ubuntu. The study revealed that a large percentage of the content on FB shows some elements of Ubuntu and an insignificant percentage of the content on FB shows little or no elements of Ubuntu. The elements of Ubuntu which were observed by the researcher are respect, compassion, love, sharing, tolerance and solidarity. The study revealed that, the need to be accepted, age, people’s background and relationships affect the way people behave on FB. The study concludes that Face book is being used by African people to remind, instill and perpetrate the values of Ubuntu in its users.

Ubuntu and constructivist grounded theory: an African methodology package

Conducting qualitative research in Southern Africa can present challenges for researchers seeking to explore local perspectives on health phenomena. We must address sensitive issues such as language, translation and cultural differences as well as local history, power and, possibly, colonial legacies. Our purpose in this paper is to explore the use of a Southern African philosophy, Ubuntu, as an appropriate ontology to guide qualitative nursing research, specifically constructivist grounded theory. To do so, we briefly discuss the historical problematic of Western research and its relationship to Africa and Africans. We introduce the principles of Ubuntu and its role in African society and use constructivist grounded theory as an example of a methodology that is congruent with Ubuntu. We highlight the areas of correspondence between them. The values of Ubuntu, of mutuality, interdependence, humility, solidarity and so forth could serve as a way to strengthen any research, by reminding researchers to enter the field with humility, awe and wonder at the complexity of human life.

LET NUCLEAR ENERGY BOIL THE KETTLE OF INDIGENT PEOPLE

In this article, the planning  of electricity  supply  infrastructure  is problematised from the ubuntu  point of view. Among other things,  I examine  the impact  of nuclear energy on planning electricity supply infrastructure in order to meet the administrative obligation to facilitate universal access to affordable, reliable and clean, modern electricity to the populace. In addition, flowing from the synergies between the hypothesis of cheap and clean electricity from nuclear capacity and collective benefits from available resources while protecting the environment, this article explores the right to access to electricity, and the role of the Department of Energy in providing  electricity to the populace  by planning  electricity  supply infrastructure that is in harmony with communities and environments,  guided by the values of ubuntu.