Title: “Decolonization: Myth and Reality”
Uchenna Okeja (Rhodes University, South Africa)
Handel Kashope Wright, discussant
Abstract: Theories and practices of decolonization vary across the world. The meaning of the concept is also a matter of contestation. To get to the core of the phenomenon, I propose to consider it as both myth and reality. In this lecture, I examine the ways theories and practices of decolonization across the world are both myth and reality. The argument I make is that the theories and practices of decolonization must cut through their myth to get to the reality they seek. Drawing on the example of South Africa, I conclude with a brief reflection on how this goal can be achieved.
Presenter’s bio:
Uchenna Okeja is Associate Professor of philosophy at Rhodes University and Iso Lomso Fellow at Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study. He works mainly in the areas of critical theory, political philosophy, ethics and African philosophy. His most recent works are: Religion, Politics and Postsecularism, ed. (Routledge), African philosophy and global justice, ed. (Routledge), War by Agreement: On the Nature and Justification of Just War (Journal of Military Ethics); and “Palaver and Consensus as Metaphors for the Public Sphere” in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory (Oxford University Press). His monographs Deliberation: Foundation for a Modern African Political Philosophy and Global Africana Thought – Critique of Humiliation will be published next year. Prior to Rhodes, he taught philosophy for many years at Goethe University, Frankfurt. He has held visiting positions at Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Forschungskolleg Bad Homburg and Iustitia Amplificata Center for Advanced Study at Goethe University Frankfurt, The University of Chicago 7 and Harvard University. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC.