Ubuntu and social capital: a strong relationship and a possible instrument of socio-economic development

Abstract

I examine the interrelationships between social capital and Ubuntu, an African social philosophy necessarily embedding the existence of an individual in that of the society. Social capital -the sum of interpersonal links and civic participation of a person -has been proven to be essential in promoting both social and economic development. The strong link existing between Ubuntu and social capital shows the potential value of the former for the socio-economic development of the sub-Saharan populations. Indeed the African governments should promote Ubuntu as a valuable instrument to fight against poverty and conflicts.

Core aspects of ubuntu: A systematic review

“…Rather it implies that in communal relationships, the individual, as Lutz [55] and others [49,69] observe, does not pursue the common good over his own good, but pursues his own good through pursuing the common good. In the literature, [16,49,56,63,72,91,92] the communal character of ubuntu does not wipe away individuality (in the sense of everyone having the same frame of mind); rather, one's individuality persists. In this African ethics, each individual contributes his experience, abilities, knowledge and strategies to the final social goal, and where there are disagreements, such disagreements are negotiated through indaba(s) -or discussions among all members of the community -in order to arrive at a consensus.…”

“…Identifying with others implies thinking of oneself as a we (cognition), developing a sense of togetherness or expressing shame/pride in what the group does (emotions), engaging in joint projects (conation), adopting goals consistent with those of others (volition) and finally, co-ordinating behaviour to realise shared ends (motivation). [4,11,16,17,27,42,43,57,62,63,67,69,80,83,90,[95][96][97][98][99][100][101] Migheli [16] classifies this 'we' thinking into 'we' mode and the 'pro-group I' mode. The former is team thinking: here one reasons within and for the group.…”

Through the pyramid: implications of interconnectedness in Africa

“…Group members share an identity, resources and support, show caring, respect and compassion for each other, and receive unquestioning loyalty in return, which creates networks of social obligations to and relationships with communities and extended families (Letseka, 2012;Zoogah et al, 2015). Ubuntu has been demonstrated to be closely related to social capital and both have found to have positive social and economic outcomes (Migheli, 2017). Ubuntu builds social networks and calls on both "because of the empathy he feels, the individual will necessarily behave sympathetically when taking his choices" (Migheli, 2017(Migheli, , p. 1217.…”

“…Ubuntu has been demonstrated to be closely related to social capital and both have found to have positive social and economic outcomes (Migheli, 2017). Ubuntu builds social networks and calls on both "because of the empathy he feels, the individual will necessarily behave sympathetically when taking his choices" (Migheli, 2017(Migheli, , p. 1217. Therefore, caring for others is a social imperative and resides at the heart of African culture.…”

“…Increased income and mobility is historically associated with declining collectivism and growing individualism (Chiou, 2001;Triandis, 1995Triandis, , 2001, which is evidenced in South African research (Chipp et al, 2013). Ubuntu itself is strongly associated with notions of mutual dependency and the community's necessity for survival (Migheli, 2017). Thus, the impact of ubuntu could depend on notions of shared fate, most visibly apparent across rural populations (West, 2014).…”