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Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series II African Philosophical Studies, Volume 17 General Editor George F Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series II African Philosophical Studies, Volume 17 General Editor George F. McLean Philosophy in African Traditions and Cultures Zimbabwean Philosophical Studies, II Edited by: Fainos Mangena Tarisayi Andrea Chimuka Francis Mabiri The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2015 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Philosophy in African traditions and cultures : Zimbabwean philosophical studies, II / edited by: Fainos Mangena, Tarisayi Andrea Chimuka, Francis Mabiri. -- First edition. 1. Philosophy, African--20th century. 2. Philosophy, African--21st century. I. Mangena, Fainos. B5320.P45 2014 2014036575 199'.6891--dc23 CIP ISBN 978-1-56518-299-8 (pbk.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Philosophy in African Traditions and Cultures 1 Fainos Mangena, Tarisayi A Chimuka and Francis Mabiri Part 1: Ecology, Culture and Tradition Chapter I: Tradition and Objectivity 11 John Douglas McClymont Chapter II: Christianity and Tradition: An Ethical Evaluation 25 of the Discourse on Feminism and Empowerment in the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) Church Kudzai Biri Chapter III: Shona Religion in Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Program: 41 Is a Sustainable Shona Ecological Ethic Possible? Nisbert Taringa and Fainos Mangena Part 2: Ethics, Poverty and Crisis in Africa Chapter IV: Moral Anchors of National Healing, Reconciliation 55 and Integration in Post-conflict Zimbabwe Fainos Mangena Chapter V: Racial Harmony in Zimbabwe and South Africa: 71 A Comparative Discourse Isaiah Munyiswa Chapter: VI: Poverty and Hunger in Zimbabwe in the Light 85 of Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Nyasha Madzokere and Francis Machingura Part 3: Ethics in Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation and the Development Paradigm Chapter VII: Witches, Sellouts in Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation 103 Tarisayi Andrea Chimuka Chapter VIII: Women in Zimbabwe’s War of ‘Liberation’: 117 An Ethical Appraisal of the Sexual Conduct of Male Guerrillas Molly Monyanganise iv Table of Contents Chapter IX: Re-thinking the ‘Right to Development’ 135 in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa Francis Mabiri and Isaiah Munyiswa Chapter X: The Development Paradigm in Three Zimbabwean 147 Literary Texts: A Philosophical Analysis Josephine Muganiwa and Fainos Mangena List of Contributors 165 Index 169 INTRODUCTION PHILOSOPHY IN AFRICAN TRADITIONS AND CULTURES FAINOS MANGENA, TARISAYI A CHIMUKA AND FRANCIS MABIRI Most of the chapters in this volume were intensively discussed by an international team at the University of Zimbabwe. The chapters cover three broad areas of philosophical interest, namely: Culture, Tradition and Development and/or progress. In total the volume has ten papers all written by Zimbabwean Philosophers and others with a philosophical inclination. The first section of this volume has chapters on Ecology, Culture and Tradition especially as these relate to Africa. One important contribution in the first section of this volume is from John Douglas McClymont who looks at the interplay between Tradition and Objectivity. McClymont contends that the traditional idea of progress suggests a forward movement, a form of elevation from a lower standard of living to a higher one. McClymont chides that this view is unwarranted, for progress can actually run backwards as seems to be the case with contemporary Africa. McClymont, cautions that the idea of progress in Africa must not be propped up by cultural thinking; rather it must be ascertained through critical thinking. He sees cultural thinking as fostering a blind appropriation of tradition, and since there are many competing traditions this leads to a relativism. By contrast, critical thinking stands aloof and takes an objective view of issues. This scientific attitude, for McClymont, is required in the interrogation of tradition and progress; in brief, it is the quest for objectivity. In the final analysis, McClymont criticizes cultural relativity opting for objectivity, because the former, with its emphasis on plurality of perspectives, leads to confusion. Thus cultural relativity, for McClymont, does not augur well for the idea of progress understood as maturation of knowledge beyond cultural thinking. In her conceptualization of tradition and progress, Kudzai Biri proffers a Christian dimension as she reflects on the role of Christianity and Tradition in explaining the discourses of feminism and empowerment in the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God (ZAOGA) Church. Biri argues that patriarchal configurations of African traditions are largely responsible for the oppression and marginalization of women, thereby constricting their social spaces. 2 Fainos Mangena, Tarisayi A Chimuka and Francis Mabiri Biri argues that the masculine conceptions that are found in the bible and in Shona traditions are oppressive to women and tend to promote gender-based violence. This affects the safe spaces for women and gives the undue position of dominance to men. She reviews the teachings of Ezekiel and Eunor Guti in order to demonstrate her thesis. For Biri, both the Church and tradition are used by Ezekiel and Eunor Guti (Leaders and co-founders of ZAOGA) to justify the oppression of women folk by irresponsible husbands. By the same token, Biri argues that women’s choices are curtailed including the right to question. In addition, their contributions in the home and at church are sidelined and this kind of thinking, for Biri, stifles progress. To conclude the first section of this volume, a chapter from Nisbert Taringa and Fainos Mangena explores the link between Shona Religion and Ecological Ethics in the context of the Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe. Here Taringa and Mangena bring the issue of religion, land reform and ecology into focus. The authors examine the Shona religious tradition before and after the Land Reform Program. They try to show how the land and its resources have always been handled by traditional leaders as well as by the liberation fighters in history and they contend that respect for the environment has always been very high. Taringa and Mangena argue that during the liberation war for instance, some animals were regarded as sentinels. Thus, if animals were considered as comrades in the struggle, it follows that they were not killed. That way the liberation fighters were able to preserve the animal species. Taringa and Mangena bemoan the sad developments brought about by the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) which, to them, paid no respect to the environment, with the net result being the possibility of an ecological disaster. Taringa and Mangena argue that there is need to be sensitive when approaching environmental issues. To this end, the authors suggest a Shona ecological ethic incorporating a spiritual attachment to the land (and other resources) as paradigmatic. This Shona ecological ethic is hinged on the Shona people’s strong beliefs in the unity of beings, the sacredness of the land, reverence of life and responsibility towards nature. The second section of this volume has chapters that fall under the theme: Ethics, Poverty and Crisis in Africa. At face value these chapters appear unrelated and yet they all have one common characteristic: they address the concerns of opposing socio-political binaries in the society. These socio-political binaries are represented by specific socio-political players or agents. The tension between these opposing socio-political players impinges on the envisaged socio-economic progress in Zimbabwe, hence the need to have ethical principles to address these issues in order to bring about harmony and equality in society. Philosophy in African Traditions and Cultures 3 To open the discussion in this section is a chapter from Fainos Mangena entitled: Moral Anchors of National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration in Post-conflict Zimbabwe. In this chapter, Mangena identifies and critiques the underlying values and principles in Zimbabwe’s national effort to heal, reconcile and integrate its society after the civil strife spanning the years 1999 to 2009. 1999 marked the inception of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as an opposition political party challenging the revolutionary party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) (ZANU-PF). The two political parties, which were diametrically opposed to each other ideologically became not only political adversaries, but also engaged in violence which resulted in the polarization of society and, therefore, divisions among Zimbabweans, hence the justified call for national healing, reconciliation and integration. Mangena challenges the role of the Church in its attempt to bring together the opposing forces in the Zimbabwean society as he advocates openness and inclusivity that take into account religious and cultural pluralism. Here Mangena is worried by the fact that the Church wants to go it alone in this process of national healing, reconciliation and integration. He summarizes the submission of the Church in some of the major regions of Zimbabwe, namely: Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru and Bulawayo. Mangena proposes hunhu or ubuntu principles as moral anchors that can be used to achieve the desired national healing, reconciliation and integration. He presents hunhu or ubuntu as the authentic and genuine Zimbabwean (if not African) moral basis for living together and doing well in society. The Christian churches
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