Oche Onazi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748654673
- eISBN:
- 9780748693870
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748654673.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter introduces and argues against the traditional antagonistic relationship between concepts of human rights and community. After discussing the nature of this estranged relationship, it ...
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This chapter introduces and argues against the traditional antagonistic relationship between concepts of human rights and community. After discussing the nature of this estranged relationship, it proposes a less antagonistic way of looking at things from the standpoint of African moral philosophical values of community, human interdependence and relatedness. Human rights are given a more ethical connotation, and through interpersonal relationships in community, they become the inexplicable link between each human being. This chapter, however, begins by discussing the failure effectively to deploy community within human rights discourse. It highlights the insignificant use of community, and also points to the inadequacies relating to it.Less
This chapter introduces and argues against the traditional antagonistic relationship between concepts of human rights and community. After discussing the nature of this estranged relationship, it proposes a less antagonistic way of looking at things from the standpoint of African moral philosophical values of community, human interdependence and relatedness. Human rights are given a more ethical connotation, and through interpersonal relationships in community, they become the inexplicable link between each human being. This chapter, however, begins by discussing the failure effectively to deploy community within human rights discourse. It highlights the insignificant use of community, and also points to the inadequacies relating to it.
Daniel Herwitz
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231160186
- eISBN:
- 9780231530729
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231160186.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter examines Thabo Mbeki's African Renaissance—the liberal growth of Africa through a return to, and reaffirmation of, the African past, and through related, shared African values. Mbeki ...
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This chapter examines Thabo Mbeki's African Renaissance—the liberal growth of Africa through a return to, and reaffirmation of, the African past, and through related, shared African values. Mbeki criticized the economic inequality in South Africa, stating that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could not resolve the problem. He then reiterated that the only solution would be the African Renaissance of democratization, development, and the overcoming of racism. He added that everything about the future of Africa was already contained in the glories of its past; thus, Africans should return to these glories—by affirming them, and by using them to pave the way for that future. This affirmation makes Mbeki's African Renaissance a language of decolonization, as well as a language of rehabilitation through assertion of essence.Less
This chapter examines Thabo Mbeki's African Renaissance—the liberal growth of Africa through a return to, and reaffirmation of, the African past, and through related, shared African values. Mbeki criticized the economic inequality in South Africa, stating that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could not resolve the problem. He then reiterated that the only solution would be the African Renaissance of democratization, development, and the overcoming of racism. He added that everything about the future of Africa was already contained in the glories of its past; thus, Africans should return to these glories—by affirming them, and by using them to pave the way for that future. This affirmation makes Mbeki's African Renaissance a language of decolonization, as well as a language of rehabilitation through assertion of essence.
Eric Masinde Aseka
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635221
- eISBN:
- 9780748653010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635221.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter argues that society is today marked by a growing addiction to over-consumption of products and services ranging from car alarms to TV news programmes. Addictive consumerism, and an ...
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This chapter argues that society is today marked by a growing addiction to over-consumption of products and services ranging from car alarms to TV news programmes. Addictive consumerism, and an adherence to narrow beliefs about products, is bringing to birth a new social reality. African cultural values are losing out to consumerist values. Economic worth has displaced self-worth as the measure by which we value one another. As America settles into its nightly routine of television viewing, Africa follows suit in sheer mimicry, and corporate profiteers are quick to substitute the lure of material luxury and consumer gratification for the fading community spirit that is cultural. As the media continue to advertise products in the market in the name of selling an image of the postmodern personality – an empty shell because it has lost its moral essence – Africa will continue to be hollow and vulnerable to imperial manipulation.Less
This chapter argues that society is today marked by a growing addiction to over-consumption of products and services ranging from car alarms to TV news programmes. Addictive consumerism, and an adherence to narrow beliefs about products, is bringing to birth a new social reality. African cultural values are losing out to consumerist values. Economic worth has displaced self-worth as the measure by which we value one another. As America settles into its nightly routine of television viewing, Africa follows suit in sheer mimicry, and corporate profiteers are quick to substitute the lure of material luxury and consumer gratification for the fading community spirit that is cultural. As the media continue to advertise products in the market in the name of selling an image of the postmodern personality – an empty shell because it has lost its moral essence – Africa will continue to be hollow and vulnerable to imperial manipulation.
K. Zauditu-Selassie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033280
- eISBN:
- 9780813039060
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033280.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature
This chapter examines the shortcomings of the main character in Toni Morrison's second novel Sula, particularly her negligence of African values. It analyzes archetypes and symbols that mark Sula's ...
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This chapter examines the shortcomings of the main character in Toni Morrison's second novel Sula, particularly her negligence of African values. It analyzes archetypes and symbols that mark Sula's definitions as well as her rejection of the living ancestor's presence and her departure from an understanding of African worldview. It suggests that this novel leaves readers with a formidable picture of cultural and physical death by reiterating the true powers available to African people if they listen to ancestral voices, practice their cultural traditions and accept responsibility for one another.Less
This chapter examines the shortcomings of the main character in Toni Morrison's second novel Sula, particularly her negligence of African values. It analyzes archetypes and symbols that mark Sula's definitions as well as her rejection of the living ancestor's presence and her departure from an understanding of African worldview. It suggests that this novel leaves readers with a formidable picture of cultural and physical death by reiterating the true powers available to African people if they listen to ancestral voices, practice their cultural traditions and accept responsibility for one another.
