Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province

South Africa still shows signs of being a very patriarchal society and this somehow leads to instances where the rights of women and children have been trampled on because of a male-favouring environment. This situation prevails despite the South African Constitution and current laws that prohibit d...

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Main Author: Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2019
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/1/34318-107054-1-SM%20%281%29.pdf
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author Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon
author_facet Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon
author_sort Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description South Africa still shows signs of being a very patriarchal society and this somehow leads to instances where the rights of women and children have been trampled on because of a male-favouring environment. This situation prevails despite the South African Constitution and current laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender. This study will explore whether the adoption of the philosophy of Ubuntu could offer a remedy for our society today, to counter the patriarchal views that dominate society and the ignorance these views reveal about both women and children’s rights. This paper draws on the study undertaken by the Eastern Cape chapter of South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), namely “Archaeology of Ubuntu”, which explored the notion of Ubuntu as a moral concept. In the study, “Archaeology of Ubuntu”, the point of departure was that community elders, as the custodians of African epistemologies, should be consulted while still alive, because, once they are gone, all their wisdom and knowledge about the culture would be lost. In this paper, it is argued that the values propagated by the Ubuntu philosophy, and as it was practised in patriarchal societies the olden days, meant that the rights of women and children were not ignored. In this study, isiXhosa-speaking elders revealed that, based on the philosophy of Ubuntu, patriarchy enabled a caring society, where the vulnerable, that is, women, children and the elderly, were looked after, protected and provided for. Therefore, the conclusion is that the Ubuntu philosophy should be considered to address patriarchy in South African society, to remedy the ever-increasing incidents of abuse of women and children.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:200602022-10-07T08:44:32Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/ Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon South Africa still shows signs of being a very patriarchal society and this somehow leads to instances where the rights of women and children have been trampled on because of a male-favouring environment. This situation prevails despite the South African Constitution and current laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender. This study will explore whether the adoption of the philosophy of Ubuntu could offer a remedy for our society today, to counter the patriarchal views that dominate society and the ignorance these views reveal about both women and children’s rights. This paper draws on the study undertaken by the Eastern Cape chapter of South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), namely “Archaeology of Ubuntu”, which explored the notion of Ubuntu as a moral concept. In the study, “Archaeology of Ubuntu”, the point of departure was that community elders, as the custodians of African epistemologies, should be consulted while still alive, because, once they are gone, all their wisdom and knowledge about the culture would be lost. In this paper, it is argued that the values propagated by the Ubuntu philosophy, and as it was practised in patriarchal societies the olden days, meant that the rights of women and children were not ignored. In this study, isiXhosa-speaking elders revealed that, based on the philosophy of Ubuntu, patriarchy enabled a caring society, where the vulnerable, that is, women, children and the elderly, were looked after, protected and provided for. Therefore, the conclusion is that the Ubuntu philosophy should be considered to address patriarchy in South African society, to remedy the ever-increasing incidents of abuse of women and children. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2019 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/1/34318-107054-1-SM%20%281%29.pdf Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon (2019) Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province. e-BANGI: Jurnal Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, 16 (7). pp. 1-10. ISSN 1823-884x https://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/issue/view/1208
spellingShingle Luvalo, Loyiso Mennon
Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title_full Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title_fullStr Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title_full_unstemmed Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title_short Patriachy and Ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the Eastern Cape province
title_sort patriachy and ubuntu philosphy : the views of community elders in the eastern cape province
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20060/1/34318-107054-1-SM%20%281%29.pdf