Beyond Ujamaa: African Religion and Societal Evil

Frans Wijsen

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Beyond Ujamaa: African Religion and Societal Evil

In: Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture

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Frans Wijsen

Frans Wijsen
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 169–184

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401205375_012

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In our present globalized world, people in large areas of Africa still lack sus-tainable incomes, and suffer from low life expectancy and exploding poverty. There are heated debates between European and African scholars, and among Africans themselves on the causes of these conditions. The dominant trend in these debates is to blame the West for all past and present evils in Africa: slavery, colonialism, and neo-liberalism. As a solution to the continent's problems, various African scholars advocate beginning an African Renaissance by returning to the traditional African community spirit, called ubuntu in South Africa or ujamaa in Tanzania. Whether this elusive African spirit is still present and if it ever existed at all—or if it is inherently peaceful, as its advocates suggest—is unclear. In Africa, communities are not only social but spiritual realities as well, creating a strong sense of unity. The flipside of this worldview is that it can lead to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, the suppression of individual freedom and of industrious creativity. This paper weighs the good and bad sides of the possible rehabilitation of African religions.

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Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture

Case Studies

Series: Currents of Encounter, Volume: 35 and Currents of Encounter Online, Volume: 35

Cover Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture

E-Book ISBN:: 9789401205375

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Jan 2008

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African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

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Beyond Ujamaa: African Religion and Societal Evil

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Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture

Case Studies

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