Ubuntuism

See also: Ubuntu

Description

Mike Chege:

"If the antithesis of exclusion is inclusion, then the antithesis of commodification is Ubuntuism. The term Ubuntuism is a neologism coined from the southern African word Ubuntu which is related to a Zulu concept, “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” which means that a person is only a person through their relationship to others. This may also be expressed as “I exist because the community exists.” Because of its emphasis on “others” and “community,” Ubuntu may be described as a form of communitarianism. Communitarianism is a system of social organization that stresses the significance of mutual reciprocity, charity, fairness, openness, and a commitment to the common good. We shall be using the term Ubuntuism to refer to the communitarian philosophy in general.

Incidentally, lest we come away with the impression that Ubuntuism is some kind of romantic ideal, it should be noted that most historians and anthropologists are in agreement that communitarian social organization has in fact been the predominant form of social organization through almost all of human history and may date back millions of years to early ancestors such as the Australopithecines." (http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2186/2062)