By Truphena Mukuna
How can researchers ensure that they de-centre Western-centric research methodologies, methods and theoretical frameworks so that the research is localized, and the researcher and relevant community voices are heard? How can Afro-centric philosophies be mainstreamed to ensure that the research deconstructs the epistemic injustice that currently exists?
In this i2Insights contribution I explore four African philosophies – Sankofa, Ubuntu, Ujamaa, and Harambe – to show how they can provide valuable insights and foster more inclusive and transformative research practices. Although my work is on forced displacement, these philosophies are relevant to a broad range of research in the African context.
Sankofa: Learning from the Past
The Akan concept of Sankofa, symbolized by a bird looking backward while moving forward, emphasizes the importance of learning from the past to build a better future. This philosophy, which means “return and get it,” suggests that understanding historical context can provide critical insights often overlooked by Western paradigms. Sankofa encourages researchers to revisit and value traditional African knowledge systems and histories.
In the context of forced displacement research, Sankofa calls for the reclamation of indigenous knowledge, cultural heritage, and historical narratives. This approach highlights the resilience and wisdom of displaced communities in navigating displacement. By incorporating Sankofa into research methodologies, researchers can center the voices and agency of displaced communities, promote intergenerational dialogue, and contribute to the healing and empowerment of affected populations. This philosophy promotes reflexivity among researchers, encouraging them to critically engage with their own positionality and the historical dimensions of their work.
Ubuntu: Community and Interconnectedness
Ubuntu, a Nguni Bantu term meaning “I am because we are,” emphasizes collective identity and social harmony. Rooted in Southern African traditions, Ubuntu underscores the interconnectedness of all individuals within a community and the collective responsibility to support one another. Ubuntu calls for a relational approach that recognizes the humanity and dignity of everyone.
Practicing Ubuntu in forced displacement research involves co-creating knowledge with displaced communities, fostering meaningful relationships based on mutual understanding and solidarity, and promoting inclusive and participatory research processes. This philosophy encourages researchers to consider the broader social, economic, and political contexts that shape displacement, including colonial legacies and structural inequalities. By embracing Ubuntu, researchers can contribute to more equitable and compassionate responses to forced displacement, grounded in principles of social justice and human rights.
Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics
Ujamaa, popularized by Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, translates to “familyhood” and emphasizes cooperative economics and social unity. Ujamaa advocates for the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities among researchers and the communities they study. This includes fair compensation for local researchers and participants, as well as investment in local research infrastructure. Ujamaa ensures that communities have control over how research is conducted and how findings are used. This philosophy emphasizes capacity building and empowerment of participants, enabling them to lead and sustain research initiatives. Ujamaa encourages research that addresses the socio-economic needs of communities, promoting sustainable development and self-reliance. Researchers can draw on Ujamaa principles to foster community-based initiatives, cooperative networks, and self-reliance strategies empowering communities to address their own needs and aspirations.
In research on displaced communities, methodologies aligned with Ujamaa involve capacity-building initiatives that empower local scholars and institutions. Training programs, resource sharing, and long-term partnerships can help build sustainable research capacities within displaced communities. This cooperative approach ensures that knowledge production is not extractive but mutually beneficial, fostering resilience and self-reliance. Ujamaa can be used to study economic resilience by understanding and promoting practices that enhance self-reliance within displaced communities, such as development aid and communal farming.
Harambe: Working Together
Harambe, a Swahili term meaning “all pull together,” reflects the spirit of collective effort and unity. Integrating Harambe into research encourages collaborative partnerships that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. This philosophy promotes the co-creation of knowledge, where researchers and communities work together to identify problems, develop solutions, and share insights collaboratively.
The Harambee philosophy can be applied in forced displacement research by developing research partnerships with local organizations, governments, and international bodies. Collaborative efforts can pool resources, knowledge, and expertise to address complex displacement issues more effectively. Conducting action research that involves community members in designing interventions can lead to immediate practical benefits, such as improved living conditions and access to services for displaced individuals.
Integrating Afro-Centric Approaches to Epistemic Equity in Research
Integrating an Afro-centric approach to epistemic equity in research entails recognizing and valuing the unique perspectives, knowledge systems, and cultural practices of the affected African communities. This approach challenges dominant Euro-centric narratives and promotes a more inclusive and representative understanding of the research problem. By foregrounding Afro-centric epistemologies, researchers can foster justice and equity, enriching global discourse with diverse, context-specific insights.
Practical Steps for Integration
- Cultural Sensitivity Training: Researchers should undergo training to understand and respect the cultural contexts and philosophies of the communities they study, fostering trust and ensuring culturally appropriate research practices.
- Community Engagement: Engage communities from the outset, involving them in defining research questions, methodologies, and outcomes. This participatory approach ensures that research is relevant and responsive to community needs.
- Collaborative Partnerships: Establish equitable partnerships between Global North and South researchers, ensuring Southern scholars have equal opportunities to lead and contribute to research projects.
- Diversified Methodologies: Employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods that capture the richness of African experiences, including oral histories, storytelling, focus groups, and participatory mapping.
- Capacity Building: Invest in the training and development of local researchers and institutions to enhance research quality and build sustainable capacities within affected communities.
- Ethical Considerations: Ensure research ethics prioritize the dignity, rights, and welfare of affected individuals, including obtaining informed consent and protecting participant confidentiality.
Conclusion
By valuing and incorporating African philosophies and knowledge systems, researchers can produce more effective, ethical, and sustainable solutions for communities, contributing to a more just and equitable global knowledge landscape. By centering the voices and agency of affected communities, fostering intercultural dialogue, and promoting collective solidarity, researchers can contribute to diverse, equitable, inclusive, and transformative approaches and de-center knowledge production in research.
Have you included Afro-centric or other Indigenous philosophies in your research? If so, what benefits did you perceive? Were there any challenges?
Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: Generative AI was used to shorten the original version of this i2Insights contribution. (For i2Insights policy on generative AI please see https://i2insights.org/contributing-to-i2insights/guidelines-for-authors/#artificial-intelligence.)
Biography: Truphena Mukuna PhD is Executive Director at the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She conducts transdisciplinary transformative research and feminist participatory action research on vulnerable populations to offer life-changing, cost-effective solutions and see improvement in people’s lives.
Hello Truphena
I found that you expressed very well the four Afro-centric philosophies of Sankofa, Ubuntu, Ujamaa, and Harambe, while indicating that in the research process partnerships across researchers (professional and lay researchers) from a variety of geographical contexts in (genuine) collaboration can lead to transformative outcomes for concerned communities.
The Akan concept of Sankofa, which you indicate is symbolized by a bird looking backward while moving forward, expresses well that transformative learning to build a better future is possible and desirable, while giving credence to what may be called traditional knowledge systems (and ways of knowing) as part of the process.
And as you say, the philosophy of Ubuntu calls for “a relational approach that recognizes the humanity and dignity of everyone”. Some authors (such as Bagele Chilisa and Rutendo Ngara) suggest that Ubuntu extends to “nature” (the more-than-human world of which we are part) as being part of the community which needs to be dignified (respected). So Ubuntu can be seen to offer a non-anthropocentric perspective which reveres all life forces (human and more-than-human). Meanwhile, as you succinctly summarise, Ujamaa encourages research that “addresses the socio-economic needs of communities, promoting sustainable development and self-reliance”. In the context of climate change, which arguably has been brought about by Western-styled economies treating nature as a resource to be exploited without considering her as a life force to be revered, we can extend this to suggest that socio-economic needs would need to include the needs of Mother Nature. And we could say also then that the Harambe philosophy which urges that researchers and communities work together to identify problems, develop solutions, and share insights collaboratively, would also include nature as a stakeholder so that problems and solutions that are discussed, are framed with this in mind.
I see in your Conclusion you ask readers whether we have included Afro-centric or other Indigenous philosophies in our research? And you ask, if so, what benefits did you perceive? Were there any challenges? By way of an answer I will cite one of the projects that Francis Adyanga and I facilitated in Uganda, in the face of the disruptions to social and ecological justice identified by the community participants following the irresponsible practices of certain foreign companies. We invoked the Indigenous research paradigm (discussed in detail, for example, by Chilisa in her various publications and by other authors) in a specific way to liaise with concerned participants. We facilitated four focus groups in different villages so as to enable participants to learn from further discussions around their ways of organising community mobilisation, while also sharing their learning with other communities who too could benefit from their insights. By ensuring that the research would be meaningful to them from the start, and by identifying trusted leaders in the community to solicit community interest in the project, I would say we addressed potential challenges, such as the research being regarded as not worthy of participating in. One of the venues in which we wrote up this research can be found at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol27/iss7/13/
Here it can be seen how the participants were expressing injustice not only in terms of human wellbeing, but also the wellbeing of the whole web of life, that they indicated had been disregarded by the foreign (multinational) companies. They also asked us to act as mediators in addressing certain local and national politicians based on the research, and we acted accordingly, while noting that their efforts in collective mobilisation had also brought some fruits.
With good wishes, and thanks again for your identification of the four philosophies and how they can be seen as interconnected.
Norma
This is such a great article, thank you! I haven’t taught or included these principles in my research but I am teaching a subject on innovation this semester. I’ve been reflecting on how to encourage students to engage with different philosophies and epistemic positionings. I’ll be including, acknowledging and referencing your work, Truphena! I’ll let you know how it goes! If there’s other references or links to your organisations that would be appropriate to share with students, I’d be delighted to receive a copy.