- Title
- The end of essentialist gods and Ubuntu : a feminist critical investigation
- Creator
- Mzondi, Abraham Modisa Mkhondo
- Subject
- Feminist theology - Africa, Ubuntu (Philosophy)
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10210/122018
- Identifier
- uj:20597
- Description
- Abstract: Armstrong (1993, 2009), Ferguson (1995) and others have convincingly demonstrated that different people conceptualise different god ideas to suit their diverse socio-cultural contexts. Their work laid the necessary groundwork for this study which juxtaposed god and Ubuntu constructs, affirming the fact that people are natural social constructivists involved in a continuous process of conceptualising ideas (ideologies/theologies) that work for them and give meaning to their contexts. Extending the ongoing construction of new god ideas also to that of Ubuntu, different sets of ideas of Ubuntu were investigated. This proved that this basic idea of African “humanness” similarly becomes concretised within diverse interest groups. Thus the thesis of this study as reflected in its title, “The end of essentialist gods andUbuntu: A feminist critical investigation” was substantiated. Two research methods, one general (social constructivism) and one specific (feminism) were employed to conduct the study. Social constructivism is a theory developed to understand human interactions and consequent ideas. It has two essential elements known as philosophical idealism and philosophical materialism; and culture and context form its basis. Insights of the notion of philosophical idealism were employed to analyse the ideationist constructs of religion (gods) and of Ubuntu. Whereas social-constuctivism served as the broad overarching hermeneutical tool, feminism was used as the specific interpretive framework to critically scrutinise mostly patriarchally biased conceptualisations of god and Ubuntu..., D.Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)
- Contributor
- Viviers, H., Prof.
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Johannesburg
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