Post by Michael Eze, Dr.Phil, Ph.D.

A recent interview of mine has just been published in 𝐷𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟, one of the Netherlands’ leading intellectual and public affairs magazines. The interview is in Dutch, but for those who are not experts in Dutch, Google Translate does a surprisingly good job of rendering the conversation into English. In the interview, we discuss some of the themes that have occupied my work for many years: human dignity, ubuntu, democracy, migration, development, decolonization, and the question that increasingly concerns me: 𝑊hat 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 h𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡h𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒? I am particularly grateful to the interviewer, my former student and now colleague in the wider intellectual community, Alerk Ablikim , whose thoughtful questions made this conversation both challenging and enjoyable. One of the greatest privileges of teaching is witnessing students become independent thinkers and public intellectuals in their own right. This interview was a reminder of that privilege. One of the central ideas that emerged in our conversation is captured in the title: “𝐍𝐨 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠.” Humanity is larger than any single culture, ideology, nation, religion, or intellectual tradition. The task before us is not to choose between civilizations, but to deepen our capacity for dialogue across them. For those interested, the interview explores why I believe ubuntu remains relevant not only for Africa, but also for our contemporary global challenges. 𝑃.𝑆. 𝑇he 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑐h. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑐h 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑟. https://lnkd.in/eVE-zNi7 #Ubuntu #HumanDignity #AfricanPhilosophy #Decolonization #Democracy #Dialogue #Humanity #AfricanaStudies International Society for African Philosophy and Studies CODESRIA Political Theory Association Comparative History of IdeasCalifornia State University, FresnoArrupe Jesuit University