Rol van ’n Afrika-bewussyn in universiteite in ’n nie-Westerse konteks

Abstract

Die sake wat in die #mustfall-bewegings tydens die studente-onrus in 2015–2016 na vore gekom het, is nie nuut nie. Sake wat handel oor onder andere die rol van universiteite in ‘n nie-Westerse konteks binne die groter debat oor die gevolge van Westerse kulture op ander kulture in die tyd van kolonialisme, het reeds in die stryd teen apartheid na vore gekom en word al vir dekades lank deur Afrika-skrywers bespreek. Hulle kla meermale dat hulle argumente hieroor grootliks geïgnoreer word. Baie Westerlinge het die een deel van die stryd teen apartheid, naamlik die aandrang op menswaardige behandeling en vryheid, begryp en hulle daarmee vereenselwig. Die diskoers oor politieke bevryding het egter tóé al veel breër gestrek, naamlik oor die hele erfenis van die koloniale tyd, insluitende die implikasies daarvan vir die moderne wetenskap en universiteite. Verskillende sieninge in hierdie diskoers word kortliks in hierdie artikel bespreek, maar dan met ‘n fokus op die rol van ‘n Afrika-bewussyn in universiteite en in die wetenskap. Daar is eerstens ‘n poging om die moderne wetenskap en tegnologie oor te neem sonder om die tradisionele Afrika-bewussyn prys te gee. Die twee word dan parallel langs mekaar geplaas. Dié benadering is egter problematies, omdat wetenskap en moderne bestuurspraktyke ‘n sekere bewussyn – denkpatrone, uitgangspunte, doeleindes, begrippe, veronderstellings, waardes en ervaringe van dinge – vereis. ‘n Tweede benadering is om inheemse kennisstelsels wat mense ontwikkel het om in sekere plaaslike omstandighede te kan leef, verder binne die konteks van ‘n universiteit te ontwikkel. ‘n Derde siening is dat Afrika ‘n moderne Afrika-identiteit moet vorm as deel van die groter wêreld deur ‘n eiesoortige Renaissance, soos wat in die Europese Renaissance en Japan se Meiji-revolusie gebeur het. Vierdens is daar die siening dat die tradisionele harmonie en identiteit van die Afrika-bewussyn wat deur die moderne wêreld vernietig is, herstel moet word. ‘n Nuwe harmonie moet gevind word: vooruitgang vind plaas deur die sirkel groter te maak sonder om die eie identiteit te verander. ‘n Vyfde siening is dat drome van ‘n suiwer tradisionele wêreld onrealisties is. Daar moet gesprek kom met die oorblyfsels daarvan in gemarginaliseerde groepe. ‘n Sesde benadering is om die idee van ‘n universiteit prys te gee aan elemente van ‘n Afrika-bewussyn, of selfs deur die gewelddadige vernietiging van universiteitsinstellings. Ten slotte word daarop gewys dat die moderne wetenskap in ‘n Westerse konteks vanuit die Christendom ontstaan het, maar mettertyd van die Christelike geloof losgeraak het. As gevolg hiervan het die wêreldwye moderne magskonstellasie ‘n gebrek aan sterk etiese waardes ontwikkel wat ‘n gevaar vir die lewe van mens, plant en dier inhou. ‘n Rigtinggewende breë bewussyn moet uit ons verskillende tradisies ontwikkel word, insluitende die Afrika-tradisies, wat, soos alle ander tradisies, moet verander en aanpas terwyl elkeen sy positiewe bydrae lewer en sy regmatige plek kry.

In South Africa, the debate about an African consciousness in universities in a non-Western context had been going on for decades among African and other writers until it burst into the open in 2015 and 2016 with student protests known as the Fallist or #mustfall‖ movement (#Rhodesmustfall, #feesmustfall, #sciencemustfall, etc.). The debate about an African consciousness and the struggle against apartheid often formed part of the same movement, but many people engaged only in the struggle against apartheid, which was directed against oppression and injustice. It fought for human dignity, freedom, human rights, equality and democracy. These are all precious values in Western culture and tradition as well. The struggle for decolonisation, however, questions Western civilisation itself and the whole legacy of Western colonialism, and emphasises an awareness of an own and unique African consciousness. Consciousness here refers to what is on one‘s mind, to one‘s ideas, to one‘s view of the world, to the way one experience things and to one‘s values. African thinkers have complained that the existence of an African consciousness is ignored by scholars who research Africa from their own perspectives and preconceptions. This is evident in the way Soyinka (1976:ix-x) responded when such preconceived positions came to the fore as a result of his criticism of the notion of Negritude. Soyinka noted that a tiger does not need to proclaim its ―tigritude‖. Later on he wrote: From a well-published position as an anti-Negritudinist (if only one knew in advance what would make one statement more memorable than the next!) it has been with an increasing sense of alarm and betrayal that we have watched our position distorted and exploited to embrace a ―sophisticated‖ school of thought which (for ideological reasons) actually repudiates the existence of an African world! ... We Africans have been encountering a concerted assault, decked in ideological respectability, on every attempt to re-state the authentic world of the African peoples … In vain we conjure with the names of Mbiti, Bolaji Idowu. This article aims to analyse the discourse about an African consciousness, with particular attention to its role within universities in a non-Western context. Various ways in which the role of such a consciousness functions within universities will be investigated. The first approach to this issue is to take over Western science and technology, but at the same time also to retain a traditional African consciousness. This approach is not without complications, because science and technology require a certain mindset to prosper. These complications are illustrated, firstly, by the notion of time that is relevant within African contexts. Mbiti (1969:17, 28) argued that in Africa time is a two-dimensional phenomenon, with a long past, a present and virtually no future ... The traditional concept of time is bound up with the entire life of the people ... The change from the structure built around this traditional concept of time to one which should accommodate this new discovery of the future dimension, is not a smooth one and may well be at the root of, among other things, the political instability of our nations. Another complication can be illuminated by the way in which cause and effect is understood within an African context. The philosopher Anyanwu (1984:91-2) wrote, for example, that magic raises the question of causality. ―The West seeks rational causality in all things. What happens if nature is alive, if spirit permeates the whole universe, if consciousness cannot grasp the factors of causality? Effects would then be interpreted as magical.‖ He concludes (1984:93), ―So the whole truth about cause is that it is magical, that is it belongs to the non-material world. Yet another complication in the effort to retain both modern science and African consciousness relates to individualism and communal thinking. This is illustrated in the struggle against apartheid in the seventies in which cultural factors played a major role when students at the University of the North rejected individualism as Western. They protested the failing of students in examinations with slogans such as ―Pass one, pass all!‖ and ―An injury to one is an injury to all‖ because failure of an examination was experienced as an injury inflicted on an individual. Their protest reflects a questionable aspect of communal thinking. Some elements of the traditional African thought patterns in such communal thinking can, however, make a valuable contribution to the modern world, for example the concept of limited goods in a world where progress is pursued as if the planet has unlimited resources. A second approach to African consciousness within a university context is to develop indigenous knowledge systems, that is, the complex system of knowledge, skills, beliefs, habits and understanding that a local or indigenous group of people has developed over a period of time that enables them to live in a particular place. Ntuli (1999:184-5), for example, referred to ―the need for decolonizing our minds‖ when he argued for ―a strategic retreat to pre-colonial Africa to extricate some of the knowledge systems relevant to our needs in the next millennium. Central to the counter-hegemonic discourse is a return to first principles – to guidance from pre-colonial Africa.‖ Later on the student protest movement of #sciencemustfall would represent an extreme expression of this approach. A third approach is for universities to reflect on an African consciousness within a global context. Former South African president Thabo Mbeki propagated an African Renaissance which would emulate the European Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries and the Japanese Meiji-revolution of the 19th century, but this time developed within an African context. In this regard Leopold Senghor, former president of Senegal, emphasised the contribution that Africa must make to a future world civilisation that must grow out of the combination of the existing cultures. The fourth approach does not focus on the place of an African consciousness in a modern global context, but argues that the modern world must be assimilated into the African context by making the circle bigger. This implies that an African consciousness can restore and reinvigorate its identity by ssimilating the new into the old. Mavhunga (2011:352–3), for example, argues that there is nothing wrong in using Western thinking as a weapon to strengthen ―an authentically African standpoint‖. The fifth approach to an indigenous consciousness within universities rejects what Grosfoguel (2011:25, 29, 30) describes as a Third World fundamentalism with its ―rhetoric of an essentialist pure outside space or absolute exteriority to modernity‖. He rather looks for interaction with the ―subalterns‖, the spaces on the periphery of the present colonial power structures, that have not been subdued completely by these power structures (2011:27–8). Grosfoguel wrote from a Latin-American context, but an African university would focus on interacting with an African consciousness which is not found only in marginalised spaces. Lastly, some may promote an African consciousness through giving up the idea of a university or even through radical and violent rejection of existing university systems. An example in case would be the burning and vandalising of ―colonial‖ art works, libraries and buildings during the student protests in 2015–2016. Finally, these reflections should be regarded within a larger framework because the challenges that are mooted by student protests are not limited to Africa and other colonised places. This is evident when one considers religious aspects that play a role in Western contexts and are relevant for reflecting on an African consciousness and its relationship with the science discourse. Science and technology developed in the West over centuries as the fruit of, among others, the Christian faith, and yet, during these centuries, faith and science have become separated from each other with certain negative outcomes. It is noteworthy how Harari (2014) describes the lack of a guiding consciousness in the modern world at the end of his book Sapiens: Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem. Seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction. Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who do not know what they want? To address this, a broad consciousness is needed to give direction to science and technology. Such a consciousness must be developed from our various traditions, including the African traditions, which, like all other traditions, will have to change and adapt while each one makes its positive contribution and finds its place.