Placing Namibia's Post-Colonial/Apartheid Justice Dialogues in a Socio-historical Context (original) (raw)
Related papers
Re)Conceptualizing Social Justice in Namibia: Whose Justice? What Justice? Which Rationality
2022
The address seeks to interrogate how uneven power relations between powerful and smaller states affect honest dialogues and approaches to social justice. This is a post-colonial dialogue, responding to how Germany (a powerful state) continues to manipulate and direct the discourse. It critiques the continued dehumanising and infantilising approach and argues that talks of justice can only be meaningful if the affected communities are recognised as human agents.
Dissertation, 2021
This dissertation explores the question of universalised justice conceptions, applied to address post-apartheid contexts without adequate contextual analysis. Its central argument is that without intentional contextualisation of social justice for the post-apartheid Namibian context, Christians will not be able to create meaningful, effective, and transformative policies, programmes, practices, systems, and justice institutions—no matter how advantageous and well-intentioned. Therefore, it is needful to re-evaluate political dialogues, social theories, and theological views advocating for social justice in Namibia. This research enters into dialogue with Allan A. Boesak’s theological notions of justice to extract what could be helpful or may require further reflection in the search to formulate particular Namibian contextual theologies of social justice. Post-apartheid communities long for healing and reconciliation, and they must do so in order to ensure meaningful co-existence with one another. However, they need to confront honestly the lingering socio-economic effects of the apartheid system. Reconciliation needs to be more far reaching than mere sociality; instead, there must be a recognition that grave injustice was perpetrated. Both perpetrators and beneficiaries of the previous unjust system need to engage social and economic realities with a critical regard for a more just society. Achieving this level of understanding requires an authentic search for justice that is rooted in experiences, epistemologies, and expectations of Namibians, and the resources of the Christian faith. Otherwise, injustice will continue to be prolonged if the underlying conceptual presuppositions do not sufficiently capture and readdress the effects of the apartheid system from the understanding of those it disadvantaged. Apartheid did not only affect economic aspects of the lives of Black Namibians; it also intended to deprive them of their right to self-determination. This desire for contextualised conceptualisations to transform social justice notions reinforces the continued presence and effects of injustice for disadvantaged individuals and communities. The search for justice, beyond the political understandings, is profoundly theological and ethical. It seeks to discover a relevant theological language that will engage where the dialogues of justice are taking place to ensure that God’s image-bearers experience a sense of God’s shalom. As such, it is argued that the concept of social justice would have to consider all possible notions, even those that appear to be disagreeable because of how they have been abused for political and corrupt gain. While this is theological research, it takes cognisance that to be truly conversant, theology needs to identify and embrace systems and structures that would be its allies in the pursuit of social justice. In the search to identify what God is doing in the world and how we can be part of it, secular structures are not excluded in the search. This makes the task of theology missional (i.e., a participation in the work of God), as it seeks to make use of all available structures to ensure that the post-apartheid society transforms towards being more just and more human. Finally, the concluding chapter weighs the effects of theological participation in social justice for post-apartheid Namibia, not as a mere observer, but as a key component in advocating for justice and a more just society.
Christo Botha: Searching for justice – the pursuit of a liberal tradition in colonial Namibia
Journal of Namibian Studies, 14 (2013): 7 – 45 ISSN 2197-5523 (online), 2013
Despite an inauspicious environment in which to operate, the result of a hostile government and an indifferent white community, a small number of individuals managed to actively pursue ideals of justice and respect for basic human rights. The absence of an organised political or social tradition that could provide the foundation for the realization of these ideals effectively ensured that these individuals had to largely operate in isolation. In the process much resistance had been encountered, both in the pre-and post-independent phases of Namibian history. This raises the question as to whether the commitment to liberal values, as enshrined in the constitution, will survive the test of time.
PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 2013
Karen Engle has written a timely book that considers recent advances in human rights-based indigenous advocacy, but also the potential limits of such advocacy. Engle provocatively explores how indigenous rights, understood as human rights, surprisingly might be detrimental to the development of indigenous communities and their pursuit of sovereignty. As a set of arguments in legal scholarship, this book offers much food for thought about the role of advocacy in the work of anthropology and the potential for ethnography to serve indigenous movements.
Encountering post-colonial realities in Namibia
Encountering post-colonial realities in Namibia, 2020
This article offers an overview of the research undertaken in Namibia in 2019 by a group of emerging academics studying at Hamburg Germany to shape the core of this volume. We aim to tackle the challenging question of the speaker position within a field of discourse around post-colonialism from which our group can legitimately speak, and sketch the necessities for and challenges facing a decolonization of language, action and research. It is impossible with a small – though sensitive and ambitious – group of upcoming anthropologists to do more than scratch the surface of a problem that is so big and multidimensional. So, in this volume we present partial glimpses of our encounter with post-colonial realities in Namibia, and do not claim to be able to paint more than a rough picture. Here we have chosen to present our projects within a broader description of the current Namibian condition including aspects of history, sociality, politics, economics and ecology, religion, gender, iden...
Re-Examining liberation in Namibia
During 2001, the Uppsala-based Nordic Africa Institute (established in 1962 as The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies) initiated a research project on 'Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa'. 1 It highlights processes of political and economic transformation, or the lack thereof, mainly, but not exclusively, under the liberation movements that seized legitimate political power and have occupied the state apparatus since independence (or, in the case of South Africa, since the first democratic general elections). The research network was initiated to explore the relationship between liberation (in the sense of decolonisation) and social transformation, with particular regard to the political sphere. The aim is to offer grater insights into the scope and limitations of the social emancipation in Southern Africa, and especially into the "democratic notion" of the liberation movements who control power. Their victory over colonialism came at a price-as increasing evidence, including some of the chapters in this volume, suggest-since anticolonial wars were hardly a suitable environment for instilling, cultivating, internalising and implementing democratic values and norms. Within the research network, scholars have since 2001 provided insights into and evidence about Southern African affairs related to a political and human rights culture. A first consultative workshop was organised by The Nordic Africa Institute in December 2001 in local collaboration with the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town. 2 Soon thereafter, the controversies around the presidential elections in Zimbabwe brought some of the network participants together in an effort to cope with their frustrations. 3 A subsequent international conference on '(Re-)Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa' took place in collaboration with local civil society actors, the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) and the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), in July 2002 in Windhoek. 4 Most of the papers originally submitted to this conference have been published. 5 1. See the first results in the initial stages of conceptualisation, Melber (2001). More details on the project can be obtained from the Institute's web site (www.nai.uu.se). 2. See for a summary, the conference report in News from the Nordic Africa Institute , No. 2/2002. Most presentations to the workshop were published as Discussion Papers (Davids et al. 2002, Neocosmos et al. 2002). 3. The results were published two months after the elections (Melber 2002b). 4. I am grateful to Clement Daniels and Theunis Keulder for their immediate enthusiasm for the joint project and would like to thank Doris Weissnar, Arne Wunder and Charlotta Dohlvik for their unfailing administrative and organisational support. For a conference report, see News of the Nordic Africa Institute , No. 3/2002. 5. An unabridged, detailed discussion and analysis of the impact of the strategy debate around armed struggle in South Africa was published soon after as a separate monograph (Legassick 2002). Most papers on topics other than Namibia have been revised and edited as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (Vol. 21, No. 2) and are also published in a slightly modified format by the South African Human Sciences Research Council (Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa: The Unfinished Business of Democratic Consolidation , Pretoria 2003). The Namibia chapter (Melber 2003d) was drafted as a separate effort to add the Namibian case to the regional picture. It has been included in a considerably revised version as an introductory chapter in this volume. I wish to express gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for the material assistance rendered to the research project and the publication of its results, and The Nordic Africa Institute for the generous working environment in support of such activities.
Re-examining liberation in Namibia: political culture since independence
2003
During 2001, the Uppsala-based Nordic Africa Institute (established in 1962 as The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies) initiated a research project on 'Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa'. 1 It highlights processes of political and economic transformation, or the lack thereof, mainly, but not exclusively, under the liberation movements that seized legitimate political power and have occupied the state apparatus since independence (or, in the case of South Africa, since the first democratic general elections). The research network was initiated to explore the relationship between liberation (in the sense of decolonisation) and social transformation, with particular regard to the political sphere. The aim is to offer grater insights into the scope and limitations of the social emancipation in Southern Africa, and especially into the "democratic notion" of the liberation movements who control power. Their victory over colonialism came at a price-as increasing evidence, including some of the chapters in this volume, suggest-since anticolonial wars were hardly a suitable environment for instilling, cultivating, internalising and implementing democratic values and norms. Within the research network, scholars have since 2001 provided insights into and evidence about Southern African affairs related to a political and human rights culture. A first consultative workshop was organised by The Nordic Africa Institute in December 2001 in local collaboration with the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town. 2 Soon thereafter, the controversies around the presidential elections in Zimbabwe brought some of the network participants together in an effort to cope with their frustrations. 3 A subsequent international conference on '(Re-)Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa' took place in collaboration with local civil society actors, the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) and the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), in July 2002 in Windhoek. 4 Most of the papers originally submitted to this conference have been published. 5 1. See the first results in the initial stages of conceptualisation, Melber (2001). More details on the project can be obtained from the Institute's web site (www.nai.uu.se). 2. See for a summary, the conference report in News from the Nordic Africa Institute , No. 2/2002. Most presentations to the workshop were published as Discussion Papers (Davids et al. 2002, Neocosmos et al. 2002). 3. The results were published two months after the elections (Melber 2002b). 4. I am grateful to Clement Daniels and Theunis Keulder for their immediate enthusiasm for the joint project and would like to thank Doris Weissnar, Arne Wunder and Charlotta Dohlvik for their unfailing administrative and organisational support. For a conference report, see News of the Nordic Africa Institute , No. 3/2002. 5. An unabridged, detailed discussion and analysis of the impact of the strategy debate around armed struggle in South Africa was published soon after as a separate monograph (Legassick 2002). Most papers on topics other than Namibia have been revised and edited as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (Vol. 21, No. 2) and are also published in a slightly modified format by the South African Human Sciences Research Council (Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa: The Unfinished Business of Democratic Consolidation , Pretoria 2003). The Namibia chapter (Melber 2003d) was drafted as a separate effort to add the Namibian case to the regional picture. It has been included in a considerably revised version as an introductory chapter in this volume. I wish to express gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for the material assistance rendered to the research project and the publication of its results, and The Nordic Africa Institute for the generous working environment in support of such activities.
Christo Botha: Constraints on the development of liberal ideas and practices in colonial Namibia
Journal of Namibian Studies, 13 (2013): 7 – 31 ISSN 2197-5523 (online), 2013
This paper sets out to show how the nature of colonial rule and the attitude of white Namibians made the development of a liberal culture of tolerance and cooperation almost impossible. However, there is also evidence of a movement among certain individuals and groups to assert their inalienable rights to human dignity and freedom from oppression especially since the 1970s. This cannot be seen as an initiative to promote broad-based liberal political and civil values in an institutional context, but it was of great significance for engendering a spirit of hope in the face of oppression. This paper will be followed by another which examines initiatives to promote contacts between white and black people in Namibia and create conditions for the realization of liberal values such as the rule of law, protection of property and consent of the governed.
African Studies Review, 2021
Pursuing Justice in Africa, edited by Jessica Johnson and George Hamandishe Karekwaivanane, offers a refreshing perspective on the issue of justice in different African countries. Dissecting the concept of justice is not an easy task, but the editors have succeeded in taking this on by using an interdisciplinary approach that includes the fields of law, humanities, philosophy, and anthropology, among other disciplines. Part I of the book consists of four chapters that tackle this subject. Chapter One, "Competing Conceptions of Justice in Colonial Buganda" by Jonathon L. Earle, unpacks the concept of justice within colonial society by turning to a discussion that cuts through issues of morality, religion, and language. It also takes to task western concepts and their theories. Chapter Two, "Legal Pluralism and the Pursuit of a Just Life" by Felicitas Becker, examines the parallels that tie justice together while at the same time separating it from other concepts. Using Zanzibar's Muslim communities as an example, this chapter explores religion and its relationship to justice. Chapter Three, "Social Justice and Moral Space in Hospital Cancer Care in Kenya" by Benson A. Mulemi, exposes the tragic injustice of health care policies, focusing on the care of cancer patients who face treatment at government hospitals where international standards of oncology are not observed. Chapter Four, "Relational Justice and Transformation in Postapartheid South Africa" by Duncan Scott, argues that South Africa is riddled with problems within its governmental institutions that stem from corruption and increased crime rates. To combat this issue, Scott proposes that South Africans employ Ubuntu to meet the standards of relational justice. Part II deals with the concept of gender justice. Chapter Five, "Chilungamo and the Question of LGBTQ + Rights in Malawi" by Alan Msosa, offers an important voice that addresses the numerous persecutions of LGBTQ + individuals by using language as a means to highlight their plights. Chapter Six examines "Justice Intervention" (by Patrick Hoenig) in the context of mobile courts in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.