African Philosophy Post 1994: In Conversation with Alena Rettova

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Isaiah Negedu
SimonMary Asese Aihiokhai

Abstract

The present article aims to initiate a conversation with Alena Rettová on her article “Post-Genocide, Post-Apartheid: The Shifting Landscapes of African Philosophy, 1994-2019” that was published in Modern Africa in the Summer of 2021. We identify several issues in her historical account of African philosophical thoughts that need polyphonic engagement in order to ensure that Africa’s pluralistic intellectual heritage is not reduced to a monophonic one. We are intentional at being Rettová’s intellectual dialogical partner on the reading of African philosophy, while bearing in mind that the ideologies of apartheid and genocide are still active. While we explore some key aspects of her work, we also acknowledge that African philosophy is constantly in the making and it would be problematic to use the yardstick of one context, in this case, the Western context, as a benchmark in order to account for the progression of philosophical thoughts in other philosophical contexts (Africa) without taking into account the historical peculiarities of each context.

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How to Cite
Negedu, I., & Aihiokhai, S. A. (2022). African Philosophy Post 1994: In Conversation with Alena Rettova. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 10(2), 101–118. https://doi.org/10.26806/modafr.v10i2.421
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Articles
Author Biographies

Isaiah Negedu, Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria

He teaches at the Department of Philosophy, Federal University of Lafia, a member of the Conversational Society of Philosophy and was a fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. His areas of research are in African philosophy, race, decolonial studies, social and political philosophy. He has published in Filosofi a Theoretica, African Identities, Alternation, Dialogue and Universalism, Intercultural Education. E-mail: isaiah.negedu@arts.fulafi a.edu.ng

SimonMary Asese Aihiokhai, University of Portland, USA

He is associate professor of systematic theology, University of Portland, USA and a Fellow at the Westar Institute. He is also a member of the Conversational Society of Philosophy. His research focuses on religion, race, and identity constructions; African ethics; African philosophies, cultures, and theologies; religion and violence; comparative theology; systematic theology; interfaith studies; moral theology; and medical ethics. He has authored over forty peer-reviewed works, including Religion, Women of Color, and the Suffrage Movement: The Journey to Holistic Freedom (Lexington Press, 2022). E-mail: aihiokha@up.edu