Ubuntu (ideology)
Encyclopedia
Ubuntu or "uMunthu" (Chichewa) is an African ethic or humanist
philosophy
focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Some believe that ubuntu is a classical African philosophy or worldview whereas others point out that the idea that ubuntu is a philosophy or worldview has developed in written sources in recent years. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages
of southern Africa.
.)
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu
offered a definition in a 1999 book:
Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:
Nelson Mandela
explained Ubuntu as follows:
Tim Jackson refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.
Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the hate speech
trial of Julius Malema
:
the same concept exists. It is called botho, and the phrase that a person is a person through other people translates to motho ke motho ka batho.
Botho is one of Botswana's five national principles (the others being Democracy, Development, Self Reliance and Unity). Botswana's Vision 2016 states: Botho defines a process for earning respect by first giving it, and to gain empowerment by empowering others. It encourages people to applaud rather than resent those who succeed. It disapproves of anti-social, disgraceful, inhuman and criminal behaviour, and encourages social justice for all.
, the same philosophy is called "uMunthu". Malawian philosophers have been writing about uMunthu for years. According to the Catholic Diocese of Zomba bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. Thomas Msusa, “The African worldview is about living as one family, belonging to God,”. Msusa noted that in Africa when “We say ‘I am because we are’, or in Chichewa kali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu (when you are on your own you are as good as an animal of the wild; when there are two of you, you form a community).”
The philosophy of uMunthu has been passed on through proverbs such as Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye (your neighbor's child is your own, his/her success is your success too). Some notable Malawian uMunthu philosophers and intellectuals who have written about this worldview are Augustine Musopole, Gerard Chigona, Chiwoza Bandawe, Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni. This includes Malawian philosopher and theologist Harvey Sindima
’s treatment of uMunthu as an important African philosophy is highlighted in his 1995 book ‘Africa’s Agenda: The legacy of liberalism and colonialism in the crisis of African values’.
In Film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of Madonna
's documentary, "I Am Because We Are
" about Malawian orphans.
, the national language of Rwanda and Burundi
, ubuntu means, among other things, 'human generosity' as well as humanity (as above). In Rwanda and Burundi society it is common for people to exhort or appeal to others to "gira ubuntu" meaning to "have consideration and be humane" towards others; thus it has the extended meanings of 'generosity' and 'free, given at no cost'. It also has the general meaning of "human's essence", which also include the other meanings of the word, as it will be said of a person who shows no mercy nor consideration to others that he is an animal ( igikoko, inyamaswa).
In Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru and Kisii languages, spoken mainly in the Central, Eastern and Nyanza provinces of Kenya, the "umundu" stands for humanness or the act of being humane to other human beings and to nature in general.
language, the majority spoken language in Zimbabwe
after English
, ubuntu is unhu. The concept of ubuntu is viewed the same in Zimbabwe as in other African cultures, and the Zulu saying is also common in Shona: munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu.
Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange
(1980) highlights the three maxims of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism that shape this philosophy: The first maxim asserts that 'To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.' And 'the second maxim means that if and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life'. The third 'maxim' as a 'principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy' says 'that the king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him'.
While sharing is incorporated within "unhu", it is only one of the multiplicity of virtues within "unhu". In the "unhu" domain, visitors do not need to burden themselves with carrying provisions – all they need is to dress properly and be on the road. All visitors are provided for and protected in every home they pass through without payment being expected. In fact, every individual should try his or her best to make visitors comfortable – and this applies to everyone who is aware of the presence of a visitor within a locality.
Other manifestations of ubuntu are that it is taboo to call elderly people by their given names; instead they are called by their surnames. This has the effect of banishing individualism and replacing it with a representative role, in which the individual effectively stands for the people among whom he comes from at all times. The individual identity is replaced with the larger societal identity within the individual. Thus, families are portrayed or reflected in the individual and this phenomenon is extended to villages, districts, provinces and regions being portrayed in the individual. This places high demands on the individual to behave in the highest standards and to portray the highest possible virtues that society strives for. "Unhu" embodies all the invaluable virtues that society strives for towards maintaining harmony and the spirit of sharing among its members.
A key concept associated with "unhu" is how we behave and interact in our various social roles, e.g., daughters-in-law traditionally kneel down when greeting their parents-in-law and serve them food as a sign of respect and maintain the highest standards of behaviour that will be extended or reflected to her family and all the women raised in that family. The daughter-in-law does this as part of the ambassadorial function that she plays and assumes at all times. However, this does not apply only to daughters-in-law but to all women in general, even among friends and equals such as brother and sister, and this does not imply that the woman is subordinate to the man, or sister to brother. It is all essentially considered to be a characteristic of having "unhu" and a social interaction within the context of "unhu". The demands imposed upon men within the context of "unhu" are more physically demanding than that placed upon the woman.
Under "unhu" children are never orphans since the roles of mother and father are by definition not vested in a single individual with respect to a single child. Furthermore, a man or a woman with "unhu" will never allow any child around him to be an orphan.
The concept of "unhu" also constitutes the kernel of African Traditional Jurisprudence as well as leadership and governance. In the concept of unhu, a crime committed by one individual on another extends far beyond the two individuals and has far-reaching implications to the people from among whom the perpetrator of the crime comes. Unhu jurisprudence tends to support remedies and punishments that tend to bring people together. For instance, a crime of murder would lead to the creation of a bond of marriage between the victim's family and the accused's family in addition to the perpetrator being punished both inside and outside his social circles. The role of "tertiary perpetrator" to the murder crime is extended to the family and the society where the individual perpetrator hails from. However, the punishment of the tertiary perpetrator is a huge fine and a social stigma, which they must shake off after many years of demonstrating unhu or ubuntu. A leader who has unhu is selfless and consults widely and listens to subjects. Such a person does not adopt a lifestyle that is different from the subjects and lives among them and shares property. A leader who has "unhu" does not lead, but allows the people to lead themselves and cannot impose his will on his people, which is incompatible with "unhu".
of Western and US society. At times, however, it is voiced in the public sphere.
Baron d'Holbach
, a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment, wrote in 1770 in his two-volume System of Nature of the virtue of a person's seeing himself as interacting with others both for his own happiness and the betterment of the community. He wrote: "[A person] perceives that it is other people who are most necessary to the welfare of man: that to induce others to join in his interests, he ought to make him find real advantages in recording his projects: but to procure real advantages to the beings of the human species, is to have virtue; the reasonable man, therefore, is obliged to feel that it is his interest to be virtuous. Virtue is only the art of rendering himself happy, by the happiness of others. The virtuous man is the man who communicates happiness to those beings who are capable of rendering his own condition happy; who are necessary to his conservation; who have the ability to procure him a happy existence." Chapter 15, Part I.
Republican
US president Theodore Roosevelt
alluded to the underlying principle of ubuntu in a speech in 1903: "It is all-essential to the continuance of our healthy national life that we should recognize this community of interest among our people. The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us, and therefore in public life that man is the best representative of each of us who seeks to do good to each by doing good to all; in other words, whose endeavor it is not to represent any special class and promote merely that class's selfish interests, but to represent all true and honest men of all sections and all classes and to work for their interests by working for our common country....”
Likewise, in June 2009, in her swearing-in remarks as U.S. Department of State Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Global Partnership Initiative, Office of the Secretary of State (served June 18, 2009 – October 10, 2010), Elizabeth Frawley Bagley
discussed ubuntu in the context of American foreign policy
, stating: "In understanding the responsibilities that come with our interconnectedness, we realize that we must rely on each other to lift our World from where it is now to where we want it to be in our lifetime, while casting aside our worn out preconceptions, and our outdated modes of statecraft."
She then introduced the notion of "Ubuntu Diplomacy" with the following words:
2004 film In My Country
.
Former US president Bill Clinton
used the term at the 2006 Labour Party
conference in UK to explain why society is important.
The Boston Celtics
, the 2008 NBA champions
, have chanted "ubuntu" when breaking a huddle
since the start of the 2007–2008 season
.
At the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD), there was an Ubuntu Village exposition center. Ubuntu was the theme of the 76th General Convention of the American Episcopal Church
. The logo includes the text "I in You and You in Me".
In October 2004 Mark Shuttleworth
, a South African entrepreneur and owner of UK based company Canonical Ltd.
, founded the Ubuntu Foundation
that is the company behind the creation of a computer operating system based on Debian
GNU/Linux. He named the Linux distribution Ubuntu
.
In November 2010, UbuntuDeal.co.za, a South African group buying
website, opened, using the term to describe how people can work or buy together to purchase products or services at highly reduced prices.
In Film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of pop diva Madonna
's documentary, "I Am Because We Are
" about Malawian orphans.
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Some believe that ubuntu is a classical African philosophy or worldview whereas others point out that the idea that ubuntu is a philosophy or worldview has developed in written sources in recent years. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
of southern Africa.
Definition
Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a translation offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah GboweeLeymah Gbowee
Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. This led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president...
.)
Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
offered a definition in a 1999 book:
Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
explained Ubuntu as follows:
Tim Jackson refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.
Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
trial of Julius Malema
Julius Malema
Julius Sello Malema is a South African politician, and the former president of the African National Congress Youth League. Malema occupies a notably controversial position in South African public and political life; having risen to prominence with his support for African National Congress...
:
Botswana
In the Tswana languageTswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...
the same concept exists. It is called botho, and the phrase that a person is a person through other people translates to motho ke motho ka batho.
Botho is one of Botswana's five national principles (the others being Democracy, Development, Self Reliance and Unity). Botswana's Vision 2016 states: Botho defines a process for earning respect by first giving it, and to gain empowerment by empowering others. It encourages people to applaud rather than resent those who succeed. It disapproves of anti-social, disgraceful, inhuman and criminal behaviour, and encourages social justice for all.
Malawi
In MalawiMalawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, the same philosophy is called "uMunthu". Malawian philosophers have been writing about uMunthu for years. According to the Catholic Diocese of Zomba bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. Thomas Msusa, “The African worldview is about living as one family, belonging to God,”. Msusa noted that in Africa when “We say ‘I am because we are’, or in Chichewa kali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu (when you are on your own you are as good as an animal of the wild; when there are two of you, you form a community).”
The philosophy of uMunthu has been passed on through proverbs such as Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye (your neighbor's child is your own, his/her success is your success too). Some notable Malawian uMunthu philosophers and intellectuals who have written about this worldview are Augustine Musopole, Gerard Chigona, Chiwoza Bandawe, Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni. This includes Malawian philosopher and theologist Harvey Sindima
Harvey Sindima
Rev.Dr. Harvey J Sindima is a Malawian theologist, philosopher, professor intellectual and author.He writes about African philosophy and spirituality. He also writes about the Malawian concept of "uMunthu". He also works on independent charity project in Blantyre, Malawi with his wife Gertrude...
’s treatment of uMunthu as an important African philosophy is highlighted in his 1995 book ‘Africa’s Agenda: The legacy of liberalism and colonialism in the crisis of African values’.
In Film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's documentary, "I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...
" about Malawian orphans.
Rwanda and Burundi
In Rwanda-RundiRwanda-Rundi
Rwanda-Rundi or Ruanda-Rundi is a Bantu language, actually a dialect continuum, of Central Africa. Neighboring dialects are mutually intelligible, but more distant ones may not be. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as official languages, of Burundi and Rwanda...
, the national language of Rwanda and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, ubuntu means, among other things, 'human generosity' as well as humanity (as above). In Rwanda and Burundi society it is common for people to exhort or appeal to others to "gira ubuntu" meaning to "have consideration and be humane" towards others; thus it has the extended meanings of 'generosity' and 'free, given at no cost'. It also has the general meaning of "human's essence", which also include the other meanings of the word, as it will be said of a person who shows no mercy nor consideration to others that he is an animal ( igikoko, inyamaswa).
Uganda and Tanzania
In Kitara, a dialect cluster spoken by the Nyankore, Nyoro, Tooro, and Kiga of western Uganda and also the Haya, Nyambo and others of northern Tanzania, obuntu refers to the human characteristics of generosity, consideration and humane-ness towards others in the community. In Ganda, the language of central Uganda, obuntu bulamu means being humane, showing kindness and refers to the same characteristics.Kenya
In Kiswahili, a language spoken throughout the coast of East Africa and most of Kenya, the word may refer to "utu", which means humanness. It is a concept that condemns acts and deeds that seem unfair even in the slightest. The Bantu speakers of East Africa are believed to have originated from the Congo basin and in precolonial times "utu" was the main philosophy governing them. It meant that everything that was done was for the benefit of the whole community.In Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru and Kisii languages, spoken mainly in the Central, Eastern and Nyanza provinces of Kenya, the "umundu" stands for humanness or the act of being humane to other human beings and to nature in general.
Zimbabwe
In the ShonaShona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
language, the majority spoken language in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
after English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, ubuntu is unhu. The concept of ubuntu is viewed the same in Zimbabwe as in other African cultures, and the Zulu saying is also common in Shona: munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu.
Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange
Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange
Stanlake John William Thompson Samkange was a Zimbabwean historiographer, educationist, journalist, author, and African nationalist...
(1980) highlights the three maxims of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism that shape this philosophy: The first maxim asserts that 'To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.' And 'the second maxim means that if and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life'. The third 'maxim' as a 'principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy' says 'that the king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him'.
While sharing is incorporated within "unhu", it is only one of the multiplicity of virtues within "unhu". In the "unhu" domain, visitors do not need to burden themselves with carrying provisions – all they need is to dress properly and be on the road. All visitors are provided for and protected in every home they pass through without payment being expected. In fact, every individual should try his or her best to make visitors comfortable – and this applies to everyone who is aware of the presence of a visitor within a locality.
Other manifestations of ubuntu are that it is taboo to call elderly people by their given names; instead they are called by their surnames. This has the effect of banishing individualism and replacing it with a representative role, in which the individual effectively stands for the people among whom he comes from at all times. The individual identity is replaced with the larger societal identity within the individual. Thus, families are portrayed or reflected in the individual and this phenomenon is extended to villages, districts, provinces and regions being portrayed in the individual. This places high demands on the individual to behave in the highest standards and to portray the highest possible virtues that society strives for. "Unhu" embodies all the invaluable virtues that society strives for towards maintaining harmony and the spirit of sharing among its members.
A key concept associated with "unhu" is how we behave and interact in our various social roles, e.g., daughters-in-law traditionally kneel down when greeting their parents-in-law and serve them food as a sign of respect and maintain the highest standards of behaviour that will be extended or reflected to her family and all the women raised in that family. The daughter-in-law does this as part of the ambassadorial function that she plays and assumes at all times. However, this does not apply only to daughters-in-law but to all women in general, even among friends and equals such as brother and sister, and this does not imply that the woman is subordinate to the man, or sister to brother. It is all essentially considered to be a characteristic of having "unhu" and a social interaction within the context of "unhu". The demands imposed upon men within the context of "unhu" are more physically demanding than that placed upon the woman.
Under "unhu" children are never orphans since the roles of mother and father are by definition not vested in a single individual with respect to a single child. Furthermore, a man or a woman with "unhu" will never allow any child around him to be an orphan.
The concept of "unhu" also constitutes the kernel of African Traditional Jurisprudence as well as leadership and governance. In the concept of unhu, a crime committed by one individual on another extends far beyond the two individuals and has far-reaching implications to the people from among whom the perpetrator of the crime comes. Unhu jurisprudence tends to support remedies and punishments that tend to bring people together. For instance, a crime of murder would lead to the creation of a bond of marriage between the victim's family and the accused's family in addition to the perpetrator being punished both inside and outside his social circles. The role of "tertiary perpetrator" to the murder crime is extended to the family and the society where the individual perpetrator hails from. However, the punishment of the tertiary perpetrator is a huge fine and a social stigma, which they must shake off after many years of demonstrating unhu or ubuntu. A leader who has unhu is selfless and consults widely and listens to subjects. Such a person does not adopt a lifestyle that is different from the subjects and lives among them and shares property. A leader who has "unhu" does not lead, but allows the people to lead themselves and cannot impose his will on his people, which is incompatible with "unhu".
Western cultures
The concept of ubuntu traditionally runs counter to the creed of individualismIndividualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
of Western and US society. At times, however, it is voiced in the public sphere.
Baron d'Holbach
Baron d'Holbach
Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach was a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon...
, a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment, wrote in 1770 in his two-volume System of Nature of the virtue of a person's seeing himself as interacting with others both for his own happiness and the betterment of the community. He wrote: "[A person] perceives that it is other people who are most necessary to the welfare of man: that to induce others to join in his interests, he ought to make him find real advantages in recording his projects: but to procure real advantages to the beings of the human species, is to have virtue; the reasonable man, therefore, is obliged to feel that it is his interest to be virtuous. Virtue is only the art of rendering himself happy, by the happiness of others. The virtuous man is the man who communicates happiness to those beings who are capable of rendering his own condition happy; who are necessary to his conservation; who have the ability to procure him a happy existence." Chapter 15, Part I.
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
US president Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
alluded to the underlying principle of ubuntu in a speech in 1903: "It is all-essential to the continuance of our healthy national life that we should recognize this community of interest among our people. The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us, and therefore in public life that man is the best representative of each of us who seeks to do good to each by doing good to all; in other words, whose endeavor it is not to represent any special class and promote merely that class's selfish interests, but to represent all true and honest men of all sections and all classes and to work for their interests by working for our common country....”
Likewise, in June 2009, in her swearing-in remarks as U.S. Department of State Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Global Partnership Initiative, Office of the Secretary of State (served June 18, 2009 – October 10, 2010), Elizabeth Frawley Bagley
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley is an attorney specializing in trade and international law, a diplomat, and a major Democratic party donor and fundraiser.-Life:...
discussed ubuntu in the context of American foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, stating: "In understanding the responsibilities that come with our interconnectedness, we realize that we must rely on each other to lift our World from where it is now to where we want it to be in our lifetime, while casting aside our worn out preconceptions, and our outdated modes of statecraft."
She then introduced the notion of "Ubuntu Diplomacy" with the following words:
In popular culture
Ubuntu was a major theme in John Boorman'sJohn Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
2004 film In My Country
In My Country
In My Country is a 2004 English-language film directed by John Boorman, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche. The screenplay, written by Ann Peacock, was based on Antjie Krog's memoir Country of My Skull....
.
Former US president Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
used the term at the 2006 Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
conference in UK to explain why society is important.
The Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, the 2008 NBA champions
2008 NBA Finals
The 2008 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2007–08 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Boston Celtics, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a...
, have chanted "ubuntu" when breaking a huddle
Huddle
In sport, a huddle is when a team gathers together, usually in a tight circle, to strategise, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation when the level of noise in the venue is such that normal...
since the start of the 2007–2008 season
2007–08 Boston Celtics season
The 2007–08 Boston Celtics season was the 62nd season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association . Powered by the acquisitions of perennial All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the offseason, the Celtics finished with a record of 66–16 and posted the best single-season...
.
At the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development
Earth Summit 2002
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD or Earth Summit 2002 took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development by the United Nations. WSSD gathered a number of leaders from business and non-governmental...
(WSSD), there was an Ubuntu Village exposition center. Ubuntu was the theme of the 76th General Convention of the American Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
. The logo includes the text "I in You and You in Me".
In October 2004 Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...
, a South African entrepreneur and owner of UK based company Canonical Ltd.
Canonical Ltd.
Canonical Ltd. is a private company founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth to market commercial support and related services for Ubuntu Linux and related projects. Canonical is registered in London and employs staff around the world...
, founded the Ubuntu Foundation
Ubuntu Foundation
The Ubuntu Foundation is a purpose trust founded by Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd. to ensure the long-term maintenance of the Ubuntu Linux distribution independently of the commercial activities of Canonical Ltd...
that is the company behind the creation of a computer operating system based on Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
GNU/Linux. He named the Linux distribution Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
.
In November 2010, UbuntuDeal.co.za, a South African group buying
Group buying
Group buying, also known as collective buying, offers products and services at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers would make the purchase...
website, opened, using the term to describe how people can work or buy together to purchase products or services at highly reduced prices.
In Film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of pop diva Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's documentary, "I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...
" about Malawian orphans.
See also
- Hakuna matataHakuna MatataHakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries." It is sometimes translated as "no worries", although is more commonly used similarly to the American English phrase "no problem".-Jambo Bwana:...
- AhimsaAhimsaAhimsa is a term meaning to do no harm . The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hims – to strike; himsa is injury or harm, a-himsa is the opposite of this, i.e. non harming or nonviolence. It is an important tenet of the Indian religions...
, important tenet of the Indian religions - Ethic of Reciprocity (The Golden Rule)Ethic of reciprocityThe Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim, ethical code, or moralitythat essentially states either of the following:* : One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself....
- FihavananaFihavananaFihavanana is a Malagasy word encompassing the Malagasy concept of kinship, friendship, goodwill between beings, both physical and spiritual. The literal translation is difficult to capture, as the Malagasy culture applies the concept in unique ways...
, MalagasyMalagasy peopleThe Malagasy ethnic group forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. They are divided into two subgroups: the "Highlander" Merina, Sihanaka and Betsileo of the central plateau around Antananarivo, Alaotra and Fianarantsoa, and the côtiers elsewhere in the country. This division has its...
concept of kinship, friendship, goodwill between beings - HarambeeHarambeeHarambee is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events, eg. fundraising or development activities. Harambee literally means "all pull together" in Swahili, and is also the official motto of Kenya and appears on its coat of arms....
, a KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n tradition of community self-help events, literally meaning "all pull together" in SwahiliSwahili languageSwahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia... - Hillel the ElderHillel the ElderHillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
- Humaneness (rén) in ConfucianismRen (Confucianism)Ren is a Confucian notion denoting, as rough approximation, the good feeling a virtuous human experiences when behaving rightly, especially toward others...
- I and ThouI and ThouIch und Du, usually translated as I and Thou, is a book by Martin Buber, published in 1923, and first translated to English in 1937.-Premise:Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways:...
- Master-slave dialecticMaster-slave dialecticThe Master-Slave dialectic is a famous passage of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. It is widely considered a key element in Hegel's philosophical system, and has heavily influenced many subsequent philosophers...
- MenschMenschMensch means "a person of integrity and honor". The opposite of a "mensch" is an "unmensch" . According to Leo Rosten, the Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish, "mensch" is "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character...
- Mitakuye OyasinMitakuye OyasinMitakuye Oyasin is a traditional Lakota Sioux prayer, with its opening phrase used as a refrain in many Lakota prayers and songs. It reflects the inherent belief of most Native American traditions and belief systems that "Everything is Connected". The Lakotas, Dakotas and Nakotas all the Native...
- OhanaOhanaPart of Hawaiian culture, ohana means family in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional. It emphasizes that family are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another...
in HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an culture, ʻohana means family in an extended sense of the term including blood-related, adoptive or intentional - Proletarian internationalismProletarian internationalismProletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is a Marxist social class concept based on the view that capitalism is now a global system, and therefore the working class must act as a global class if it is to defeat it...
- SarvodayaSarvodayaSarvodaya is a term meaning 'universal uplift' or 'progress of all'. The term was first coined by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin's tract on political economy, Unto This Last, and Gandhi came to use the term for the ideal of his own political philosophy...
, a term coined by Mahatma Gandhi, meaning 'universal uplift' or 'progress of all' - UjamaaUjamaaUjamaa was the concept that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania just after it gained independence from Britain in 1961...
- Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
phrase that means that the whole World is one single family - No man is an islandDevotions upon Emergent OccasionsDevotions upon Emergent Occasions is a 1624 prose work by the English writer John Donne, who dedicated it to the future King Charles I. It is a series of reflections that were written as Donne recovered from a serious illness, believed to be either typhus or relapsing fever...
- Non nobis solumNon nobis solumNon nobis solum is a Latin motto. A common variation is non nobis, sed omnibus . It means that people should contribute to the general greater good of humanity, apart from their own interests....
Further reading
- Ambrose, David. (2006) 'Your Life Manual: Practical Steps to Genuine Happiness': Revolution Mind Publishing, 37–40.
- Bagley, Elizabeth Frawley. Remarks at Swearing-in Ceremony of Special Representative for Global Partnerships Bagley: Opening Our Doors to the Private Sector U.S. Department of State, Global Partnership Initiative.
- Battle, Michael. Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu. Pilgrim Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8298-1158-2
- Eze, Michael Onyebuchi. Intellectual History in Contemporary South Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. ISBN 978-0-230-62299-9.
- Forster, Dion. (2006a) Self validating consciousness in strong artificial intelligence: An African theological contribution. PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
: Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Africa / UNISA, an extensive and detailed discussion of ubuntu in chapters 5–6. Dion ForsterDion ForsterDr Dion Angus Forster is an ordained Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He is a theologian and author. He was formerly the Dean of the Seminary of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, John Wesley College... - Forster, Dion. (2006) * Identity in relationship: The ethics of ubuntu as an answer to the impasse of individual consciousness (Paper presented at the South African science and religion Forum – Published in the book The impact of knowledge systems on human development in Africa. du Toit, CW (ed), Pretoria, Research institute for Religion and Theology (University of South Africa) 2007:245–289).PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
: UNISA. Dion ForsterDion ForsterDr Dion Angus Forster is an ordained Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He is a theologian and author. He was formerly the Dean of the Seminary of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, John Wesley College... - Gade, C.B.N. 2011. "The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu", South African Journal of Philosophy 30(3), 303-329 http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/40165256/The_Historical_Development_of_the_Written_Discourses_on_Ubuntu.pdf.
- Louw, Dirk J. 1998. "Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other". Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy.
- Matshe, Getrude. Born On The Continent – Ubuntu. (self-published)
- Metz,Thaddeus 2007, “Toward an African Moral Theory” (Symposium)S. Afr. J. Philos. 2007, 26(4)
- Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indegenous Political Philosophy. By Stanlake J. W. T. SamkangeStanlake J. W. T. SamkangeStanlake John William Thompson Samkange was a Zimbabwean historiographer, educationist, journalist, author, and African nationalist...
and S. Samkange. 106pp. Graham Publishing, Harare, 1980. ISBN 0-86921-015-7. Paperback - Ramose, Mogobe B. (2003) 'The philosophy of ubuntu and ubuntu as a philosophy', in P.H. Coetzee & A.P.J. Roux (eds.) The African Philosophy Reader (2nd ed.) New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
/LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: Routledge, 230–238. - Samkange, S. & Samkange, T.M. (1980) Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe indigenous political philosophy. Salisbury [Harare]: Graham Publishing.
- Swanson, D.M. (2007). Ubuntu: An African contribution to (re)search for/with a “humble togetherness.” The Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 2(2), University of Alberta, Special Edition on African Worldviews. [Online] Available: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/JCIE/issue/view/56
- Swanson, D. M. (2009, August). Where have all the fishes gone?: Living Ubuntu as an ethics of research and pedagogical engagement. In. D. Caracciolo and A. Mungai (Eds.), In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research.(pp. 3–21) [In book series: Transgressions: Cultural Studies and Education, Series Ed. Shirley Steinberg.] Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publications. [See https://www.sensepublishers.com/files/9789087908430PR.pdf]
- Swanson, D.M. (2010, July). Value in Shadows: A critical contribution to Values Education in our times. In T. Lovat and R. Toomey (Ed.), International Research Handbook on Values Education and Student Wellbeing, (pp. 137–152). NY: Springer Press. http://ubc.academia.edu/DaleneSwanson/Papers/403352/Swanson_D.M._2010_July_._Value_in_Shadows_A_critical_contribution_to_Values_Education_in_our_times._In_T._Lovat_and_R._Toomey_Ed._International_Research_Handbook_on_Values_Education_and_Student_Wellbeing_pp._137-152_._NY_Springer_PressSwanson, D.M. (2010, July). Value in Shadows: A critical contribution to Values Education in our times. In T. Lovat and R. Toomey (Ed.), International Research Handbook on Values Education and Student Wellbeing, (pp. 137–152). NY: Springer Press.]
- See Dr. Dalene Swanson http://www.ualberta.ca/~dalene/index.html
- Tutu, D (1999) No Future Without Forgiveness (New York: Random House).
External links
- Ubuntu – African Philosophy
- A definition of ubuntu
- Ubuntu A brief discussion including an expanded description by Desmond TutuDesmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
- All you need is ubuntu
- A collaborative Art Project inspired from Ubuntu philosophy
- Revolutionary Ubuntu
- Ubuntu Republics of Africa A unique blog created by PanAfricani author, Filmmaker and Blogger - A. Onomen Asikele