Guest lecture by Prof. Dr. Rianna Oelofsen inspires lively philosophical discussion

On Thursday, 5th June, Prof. Dr. Rianna Oelofsen from the Department of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa gave a guest lecture entitled 'Ubuntu as an African path to social sustainability at the University of Vechta.

The guest lecture, which was co-hosted by the VISTRA and the Chair of Philosophy at University of Vechta, was one station in a lecture and research trip that also takes Prof. Oelofsen to the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, Üsküdar Universitesi in Istanbul, the Stiftung Universität Hildesheim, the Universität Bayreuth, and the Univerzita Karlova in Prague.

The lecture analysed the Xhosa/Zulu concept of Ubuntu, an African philosophy of interconnectedness and mutual care often summarised in the phrase 'a person is a person through other persons' as a a transformative framework for social, political and environmental sustainability that prioritises relationality, justice, and collective well-being. It argued that Ubuntu’s emphasis on solidarity and moral responsibility provides a viable alternative to exploitative and exclusionary social practices like patriarchism, capitalism and Western individualism that is capable of fostering ethical leadership and resilient communities.

The lecture inspired a very lively and engaged discussion between the audience and the speaker that connected the concept of Ubuntu to ideas and phenomena ranging from Buddhist understandings of karma via the cultural embodiment of social relationships in African churches and the effects of anti-social behaviour on neuroplasticity to the extreme expressions of solidarity in South African student protests, among others.