Decolonising The Human: Reflections From Africa On Difference And Oppression

Description

Decolonising the Human examines the ongoing project of constituting ‘the human’ in light of the durability of coloniality and the persistence of multiple oppressions. The ‘human’ emerges as a deeply political category, historically constructed as a scarce existential resource. Once weaponised, it allows for the social, political and economic elevation of those who are centred within its magic circle, and the degradation, marginalisation and immiseration of those excluded as the different and inferior Other, the less than human. Speaking from Africa, a key site where the category of the human has been used throughout European modernity to control, exclude and deny equality of being, the contributors use decoloniality as a potent theoretical and philosophical tool, gesturing towards a liberated, pluriversal world where human difference will be recognised as a gift, not used to police the boundaries of the human. Here is a transdisciplinary critical exploration of a wide range of subjects, including history, politics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology and decolonial studies. Front Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acronyms and abbreviations......Page 8 1 The Trouble with the Human......Page 10 The philosophical dilemma of the human in the Global South......Page 12 The human and war in the modern world......Page 16 Violence and knowing the human......Page 20 Being human in the modern colonial world order......Page 23 Organisation of the book......Page 25 References......Page 30 2 The Invention of Blackness on a World Scale......Page 34 The invention of blackness on a world scale......Page 40 Blackness: from dismemberment to re-membering......Page 45 Conclusion......Page 49 References......Page 51 3 To What Extent Are We All Humans? Of Culture, Politics, Law and LGBT Rights in Nigeria......Page 55 Theoretical and philosophical bases of the humanity of human beings: the LGBT corridor......Page 57 The trajectory of LGBT issues in Nigeria......Page 59 The social dimension of LGBT rights in Nigeria......Page 60 The political dimension of LGBT rights in Nigeria......Page 62 The law and legal framework of LGBT rights in Nigeria......Page 63 Existentialities of LGBT rights in Nigeria......Page 66 Conclusion......Page 69 References......Page 70 4 Humanness and Ableism: Construction and Deconstruction of Disability......Page 74 Making the invisible visible......Page 75 Tracing disability construction......Page 78 Construction of disability: the notion of dehumanisation......Page 81 Barriers confronted by persons with impairments......Page 83 Everyone is human: deconstruction of disability......Page 85 Bringing back the body: the corporeality of disability......Page 86 Emancipation through decoloniality......Page 87 Intersectionality......Page 89 Conclusion......Page 91 References......Page 92 5 Doing the Old Human......Page 95 References......Page 116 6 Being a Mineworker in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Decolonial Perspective......Page 118 The history of mining in South Africa......Page 119 Decolonial understanding of a mineworker in South Africa......Page 123 The socio-economic condition of a black mineworker......Page 126 Sondela informal settlement......Page 127 Jabula Hostel......Page 128 Diseases, injuries and compensation......Page 130 Conclusion......Page 133 References......Page 135 Interviews......Page 138 7 Meditations on the Dehumanisation of the Slave......Page 139 References......Page 151 8 ‘Language as Being’ in the Politics of Ngu˜gi˜ wa Thiong’o......Page 152 Language and being......Page 155 Wa Thiong’o goes naked......Page 160 Conclusion......Page 168 References......Page 169 9 The Underside of Modern Knowledge: An Epistemic Break from Western Science......Page 173 Coloniality of knowledge, power and being......Page 175 Modernity/coloniality......Page 177 Modernity/coloniality and social evolution......Page 179 The primacy of Western science: history and context......Page 181 The nature of science......Page 184 HIV/Aids as an über othering site......Page 186 Conclusion......Page 191 References......Page 192 10 The Fiction of the Juristic Person: Reassessing Personhood in Relation to People......Page 195 Unpacking the nature and purpose of juristic personality......Page 197 Similarity of design and purpose: an ideological golden thread......Page 202 Colonialism and the company’s participation in zones of being......Page 205 The modern company: (post)-colonial South Africa and the Constitution......Page 207 Limitations of human rights: serving the zone of being......Page 211 Possibilities of the fiction/construct: power and responsibility of the state to govern......Page 213 References......Page 215 11 The Cultural Village and its Idea of the ‘Human’......Page 218 The modern world system and the invention of the sub-human......Page 219 The modern world system and the politics of knowing......Page 222 The ‘brighter side’ and ‘darker side’ of cultural village tourism in South Africa......Page 224 References......Page 230 12 A Fragmented Humanity and Monologues: Towards a Diversal Humanism......Page 233 The human line and humanism of a colonial nature......Page 234 An alternative humanism is possible: the will to co-exist is necessary......Page 240 Implications for Africa......Page 244 Practically speaking: an alternative humanism......Page 246 Conclusion......Page 248 References......Page 249 Contributors......Page 252 Index......Page 256 Back Cover......Page 261