A Conversation in the Humanities in Session Series at the Centre for Humanities Research, part of the Advanced Research Seminar.
Date:
Thursday 5 June
Time:
2:00pm – 4:00pm
Venue:
The CHR’s Iyatsiba Lab,
66 Greatmore Street, Woodstock
(enter via Regents St)
Speaker:
Professor Siseko Kumalo
(University of Johannesburg)
Synopsis
The objection to Mahmood Mamdani’s (2021) analysis of South African political life, detailed in my previous work (Kumalo 2023), is the premise of the notion of ontological legitimacy, which is detailed as the recognition of Black/Indigenous modes of life that existed before colonial incursion. Two moves are at play in conceptualising the recognition detailed in Kumalo’s analysis. The first deals with distinguishing between processes of ontologising and dealing with the actual ontology of the category of ubuqaba. The interest in this latter move demonstrates the importance of the critique that is levelled against Mamadani (2021). This paper will subsequently do two things. First, outline the processes of ontologising the ‘Other’. This demonstrates how Mamdani ontologises Blackness/Indigeneity in Neither Settler nor Native. This is further demonstrated in Praeg’s (2014) A Report on Ubuntu, which divorces the ontological fact of existing within and among others from the philosophy which Praeg writes about in his book. The second part will demonstrate how these processes of ontologising the ‘Other’ work to maintain a liberal political order.
Professor Siseko Kumalo
Professor Siseko Kumalo is an Associate Professor at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies, University of Johannesburg. A scholar of political theory, his work examines how universities shape belonging and national identity in South Africa through teaching, research, and community engagement. His research contributes to global discussions on higher education’s transformative role in society. Professor Kumalo leads the Black Archive Project, which curates intellectual histories to expand curricula and decolonise knowledge production. He is also a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Global Ethics Steering Committee, where he advances ethical frameworks for sustainable education globally. With a robust publication record and contributions to prestigious platforms, Professor Kumalo’s scholarship bridges African perspectives with global discourses, cementing his role as a thought leader in higher education studies.