Afro-communitarian forgiveness and the concept of reconciliation (original) (raw)

Afro-communitarianism and the nature of reconciliation

2013

In this dissertation I sketch a conception of personhood as understood from within an Afrocommunitarian worldview, and argue that this understanding of personhood has implications for understanding the concept of reconciliation. Understanding ‘being human’ as a collective, communal enterprise has implications for how responsibility, justice, forgiveness and humanization (all cognate concepts of reconciliation) are conceptualized. In line with this understanding of reconciliation and its cognate concepts, I argue that the humanization of self and other (according to the Afrocommunitarian understanding of personhood) is required for addressing the ‘inferiority’ and concurrent ‘superiority’ racial complexes as diagnosed by Franz Fanon and Steve Biko. These complexes reach deeply within individual and collective psyches and political identities, and I argue that political solutions to protracted conflict (in South Africa and other racially charged contexts) which do not address these de...

The African Philosophy of Forgiveness and Abrahamic Traditions of Vengeance

Australasian Review of African Studies, 2018

This papyrus suggests that penal abolitionism without forgiveness of the unforgiveable may be a license for self-help or vengeance. The papyrus offers a radical deconstruction of the essay, 'On Forgiveness', by Jacques Derrida, to reveal that contrary to popular misinterpretations, Derrida was demonstrating that forgiveness is more common in African traditions than in Abrahamic traditions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This papyrus goes beyond Derrida's examples from the recent history of South Africa and delves back to classical African civilization to demonstrate that the forgiveness of the unforgivable is indeed a long-running African tradition as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, among others, suggested. The papyrus ends with a call for people of African descent to apply this philosophy of forgiveness to one another and demand that the principle be integrated into public policy along with policies for reparations of historic wrongs.

Afro-communitarian Implications for Justice and Reconciliation

Theoria, 2016

This article explores the relationship between the concepts of restorative justice, racial reconciliation and Afro-communitarianism, and how these concepts apply to the South African situation. A version of restorative justice which is necessary for the Afro-communitarian conception of reconciliation will be defended. The understanding of restorative justice defended includes aspects of both distributive and procedural justice.

Forgiveness and the practice of compromise in post-apartheid South Africa

2018

This chapter examines one of the mediators of compromise, the capacity for forgiveness. Three dominant understandings of forgiveness emerged from the narratives of South African victims of human rights violations interviewed for this research: religious forgiveness, secular forgiveness, and forgiveness as coping. While there were relatively high levels of forgiveness among the victims interviewed for this study, personal or interpersonal forgiveness is not a necessary condition for the practice of compromise, whereas third-party forgiveness is. What is more, the chapter demonstrates that forgiveness is contingent on senses of reciprocity, the fairness of the peace process, and contemporary experiences of social justice, and can wane or be withdrawn even years after the formal end of violence. Contrary to a supposed linear temporality of peace processes within which healing takes place progressively such that forgiveness and trust increase with the passage of time, contemporary victi...

Umkhumiso: a philosophical examination of the Zulu ideas of forgiveness

In the contemporary context of Africa, African Philosophy is crucial for solving African problems such as those of identity, ethnocentrism and poverty. Yet, if this is going to be the case then the gap that still exists in theoretical literature in this perspective about (unique) African philosophical phenomena, relative to other perspectives’ (as that of Western Philosophy) needs to be closed. The current topic aims to contribute to the closing of this gap by sharing a Philosophic Sagacity investigation done on Zulu Sages about ideas of forgiveness in Zulu culture. More in particular about undocumented isiZulu idioms of forgiveness, which are communicated (and are sometimes performed literally) as a way of symbolizing forgiveness between the offender and the victim. These are idioms, such as Asikhumisane umlotha- let us lick ashes together, Asidlisane Ngakhezo linye-let us eat with the same traditional spoon, Asithelelane amanzi-let us pour water for each other. Asiphuzisane ngakhezo linye-let us drink with the same traditional spoon. Asibuyisane nganeno-let us bring one another closer, Asidle Sizi shiyele- let us eat and save some for later. The paper also aims to highlight that doing research on undocumented oral aspects of African indigenous ideologies has positive consequences for both research and teaching and learning. By publishing such research and making it available for public access, it enables researchers and academics who identify culturally with those aspects to further develop them for the formulation of African philosophical theories that can be contrasted with other theories from different perspectives. It also enables academics to introduce materials into curriculum, enabling identifying students to learn and embrace their history and culture while others learn about the culture of others and of Africans generally.

Afro-communitarianism, Humanization and the Nature of Reconciliation Rianna Oelofsen

An African path to a global future, 2018

In this paper I defend an account of reconciliation based on an Afro-communitarian worldview. The paper firstly gives a brief sketch of what an Afro-communitarian conception of reconciliation entails, and goes on to argue that this conception of reconciliation is able to deal with the issue of identity transformation, which is integral for lasting peace and reconciliation. Summarizing the effects on our understanding of the concept of reconciliation when adopting Afro-communitarianism as the starting point, the paper then moves on to suggest some tentative reasons why we might want to accept this view of ethics and the person—and thus this view of reconciliation—over a Western individualistic conception. These reasons include the claim that the Afro-communitarian view captures some core empirical evidence about being human.

Reconciliation Paradigm in the Post Colonial Africa

The article sets out to stir up the debate on reconciliation project in the post colonial Africa. As we strategise on ways and means of delivering the promise of reconstruction, there is need to pay more attention on the reconciliation for individual and society. In other words, does reconciliation mean blanket forgiveness or reparation? How can we ensure that those who looted Africa account for their misdeeds without further complicating the situation? The article is set on the premise that even though there are many paradigms in African theology of the twenty-fijirst century, minor paradigms (refer to reconciliation, liberation, inculturation, market-theology and charismatic among others) and the dominant paradigm (refer to reconstruction) are both critical in the holistic rebuilding of the post colonial Africa. This said; it is imperative to critically assess reconciliation as an important paradigm -as it runs concurrently with other paradigms in Africa today. In particular, are the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commissions taking place in various countries of the tropical Africa, since Tutu's South African sample of 1995, rooted in African cultural and religious heritage, and hence authentic? How can Africa go about her reconciliative phase?