OxFID The Oxford Forum for International Development

1. OxFIDThe Oxford Forum for International Development Oxford, Feb 07, 2010 Inocência Mata (University of Lisbon)

2. Africa: the ethical challenge of recognising difference Very few conflicts in Africa do not have a measure of intolerance in them when dealing with difference, even if they involve an ideological, political, territorial or economic question.

3. In order to achieve a “culture of peace”, there is a need to come to grips with the ethical challenge of difference and diversity when drawing up social and cultural policies, not only in political discourses. What, then, is the African challenge? How may countries take up the challenge of diversity with social peace in mind and promoting a “culture of peace”?

4. Ethical challenge of difference and of diversity! Ethics: corpus of values and attitudes that delineate the boundaries between what is correct and incorrect (within the normative and legal frameworks of democratic societies) and what is acceptable and unacceptable, between the suitability of customs, obligations and (individual and collective) values in terms of the conduct and social behaviour leading to peaceful relations, mutual understanding and social productivity.

5. “Culture of peace” (The International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast) – 1989 “A set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of lifethat reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations” (UNESCO).

6. The “Culture of peace” “comprises all ethical and aesthetic values, habits and customs, attitudes towards others, forms of behaviour and ways of life that draw on and express: respect for life and for individuals with their dignity and rights; rejection of violence; recognition of equal rights for men and women; and

7. upholding of the principles of democracy, freedom, justice, solidarity, tolerance, theacceptance of differences and understanding, both between nations and countries andbetween ethnic, religious, cultural and social groups and individuals. The culture of peace also implies a spirit of mutual respect and acceptance between cultures, ideologies and beliefs.”

8. " We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scorge of war (…)" Chater of the United Nations, 1945

9. 2. … And a road to building citizenship • Plurilinguism and multiculturality: heterogeneous reality in regional and/or national African spaces. • It is normal for any African to be plurilingual, communicating in more than one language depending upon the place and the circumstances in which s/he is speaking. • Nevertheless, nowadays, these self-same phenomena are celebrated as being part of the programme espousing cosmopolitan criteria which are supposed to be synonymous with modernity and with the so-called world citizen and his/her identity ‘without borders’.

10. However Multilingualism has generally not been taken into consideration by the decision-makers in the post-colonial State when planning linguistic and educational policies.

11. Somes exceptions – ma non troppo! [South Africa has been much more open in its educational policies although there have been some shortcomings. For example, although the language of learning is in English at high school, the school syllabus requires students to learn at least one - if not two - official African languages that are different from the students' home language. The choice of these languages also depends upon the zoning and the availability of teachers, which means that with migration and the large multilingual urban areas, the offer defined by the state not always works. Furthermore, due to the overriding importance of English for business, banking, politics, bureaucracy, higher education and among the new elite, the official African language are little used in public life.]

12. We may see that with regard to this aspect, Africa enjoys a vital modernity although it continues to be viewed as a continent situated in the past, connoted with tradition, with a body that, like the “Angel of History”, is pushed into the future backwards… Walter Benjamin (interpreting Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus). “"Theses on the Philosophy of History"” (1940)

13. QUESTIONS: What is the ethical framework in which Africa may promote possible cultural diversity and multi-identity in order to favour ‘cultural peace’ and democracy? What changes should the State promote in up-dating the ethical and moral standing of its institutions, adapting them so as to meet the demands of current world philosophy?

14. 3. In this setting, what is the role of the African elite? 4. In brief, what is the ethical challenge facing African elites, intellectuals and the governing class within the context of cultural dynamics?

15. Elite A group which besides occupying its functional place, shoulders natural leadership in the transformation process.

16. CHALLENGES (i) If the proposals for change should not ignore cultural perceptions and representations, then neither should they be confined to the private sphere.

17. (ii) This means that the processes of change have to be based on learning from the social sphere, from the life of the institutions and from the communities’ wants, although safeguarding the individual’s wants.

18. (iii) The process of change cannot be disconnected from exercising citizenship and promoting a critical spirit.

19. (iv) Exercising citizenship cannot be carried out by disrespecting the internal logic of the social configurations of identity, although they should also be seen as a creative adaptation of the gains promised by the System that is adopted and the cultural and linguistic receiver system.

20. (v) When the notion of freedom is malefically manipulated (as in Zimbabwe, in Uganda in terms of the homosexual question, as well as in the Sudan regarding the ‘appropriate dress code'), the Rule of Law has to prevail over the Rule of Custom, at least in the political sphere (which directly interferes in the public sphere).