Beauty in African Thought: A Critique of the Western Idea of Development investigates how the concept of beauty in African philosophy and related qualitative social sciences may contribute to a richer intercultural exchange on the idea of development. While working within frameworks created in post-colonial and arguably neo-colonial times, African thinkers have reacted against the mainstream view that restricts the meaning and scope of good development to economic growth and western-style education. These thinkers have worked toward a critical self-understanding of the potentials inherent in cultural, spiritual, and political traditions since pre-colonial times. Edited by Bolaji Bateye, Mahmoud Masaeli, Louise Muller, and Angela Roothaan, this collection explores branches of thought from wisdom or oral traditions to political thought and philosophy of culture. This book is urgent reading material for any policy maker, scholar, or student wishing to attend to the voices of African(ist) thinkers who search for alternative approaches to global questions of development in a time of climate change and increasing socio-economic inequality.
Bolaji Bateye is associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Obafemi Awolowo University. Mahmoud Masaeli is professor of human rights studies at Iran Academia. Louise F. Muller is senior research fellow at the University of KwaZulu Natal and secretary of the Dutch OZSW research network in African Intercultural Philosophy. Angela Roothaan is assistant professor of philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Part I: Conceptions of Beauty in African Thought Chapter 1: The Concept of Beauty and Environmental Conservation Diana-Abasi Ibanga Chapter 2: We live in Paradise: Beautiful Nature in African Tradition Pius Mosima, and Nelson Shang Chapter 3: African Ethics: Human Being is Beautiful Stanley Uche Anozie Part II: Development in Africa: Contested Terrains Chapter 4: African Metaphysics as a Basis of African Human and Economic Development Wilfred Lajul Chapter 5: Ubuntu Humanity and Community Building for Human Growth: Sustainable Development in Africa's Cultural Depiction Frans Dokman Chapter 6: Ubuntu Humanity and Sustainable Development Goals Dorine E. van Norren Chapter 7: Replacing Development: An Afro-Communal Approach to Distributive Justice Thaddeus Metz Chapter 8: Understanding Genuine Development: African Contexts Luke Amadi Part III: African Views of Development: Cultural and Spiritual Aspects Chapter 9: A Reconsideration of African Spirituality in Agricultural Development Projects: Traditional Ecological Knowledge from Dagara Elders in Koro, Ghana Birgit Boogaard, Bernard Yangmaadome Guri, David Ludwig, Daniel Banuoku Chapter 10: Art Traders and Spirits. Negotiating Values for Self-Determination in a Frame of Global Development Angela Roothaan Chapter 11: Omoluabi: Understanding the Yoruba's Moral Obligations in Human Well-being and its Implications for Political Participation in Nigeria - Insights from Ikorodu Oladosu Mudasiru Surajudeen, Abdul-Gafar Tobi Oshodi and Abiodun Fatai Chapter 12: Spirituality, Capability, and Sustainable Development from an African Cultural Construction Aderemi Oladele
