Alternative Perspectives and Global Concernes (ap-gc.net)
By Dr. Mahmoud Masaeli
The 6th International Seminar
Africa’s Ethics of Care Facing COVID-19
In African culture and spiritual life, the conception of togetherness has grounded a categorical responsibility for caring for the community, addressing its needs, and safeguarding its communal essence. This responsibility is best manifested in African ethics of care in such a way that it is fundamentally different from the Western-based version of such ethics. In this particular ethics, taking care of other’s life is interwoven with not only a pathway to the formation and consolidation of the identity but also a sense of brotherhood and responsibility for the common good. In responding to the urgency of the COVID-19 calamity, and moving toward the construction of social life in the Post COVID-19 era, Africa’s ethics of care must play a role which is essentially different from the response to the pandemic by the western societies. It is quite evident that Africa complies with science and new discoveries in coping with the tough and unsettled situation. However, Africa enjoys a rich cultural and spiritual character that can help its people extend beyond the scientific aspects of dealing with the situation and provide complimentary assistance for the affected and vulnerable people. The questions raised for discussion in this seminar are:
- Would ethics of care in Africa’s culturally diverse perception, affect the current and standard scientific efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic?
- What is the essence of this ethics and what implication could it have for the pandemic and the Post COVID-19 era?
- Could Africa’s spiritual and cultural worldview share its achievements with the rest of the world in the time of crisis? How?
- In what way could ethics of care become a source of inspiration in fostering capacity-building, empowering vulnerable individuals, and restoring their dignity?
- Given the experience learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, what advice could these ethics provide for social protection policies related to the affected people?
This topic and exemplary questions raised will be discussed by our participants who are experts in Ethics, spirituality, politics, social activism, and politics. This seminar format webinar will be held via a Zoom teleconference and will be broadcasted live. It will also be recorded for offline social media.
We encourage our speakers to submit a short paper of 1500-2500 words to be published on the website of APGC. The collected paper will also be published in a public e-book by APGC.
Date: Friday, July 10th, 2020 Time: 13h00 East Canada and the US, 20h20 Central Europ, and 17h00 in Nigeria
Registration and Participation: Free of charge
Zoom information
Topic: Africa’s ethics of care
Time: Jul 10, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86000667724?pwd=eW1FdDQrcmtrWmkwRzhUME90WitLdz09
Meeting ID: 860 0066 7724
Password: 875117
The panelists
Dr. Stanley Uche Anozie teaches at Indiana University Kokomo, Indiana. He is also an adjunct professor at University of Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2007, he was awarded a Master’s Scholarship from SSHRC and a Doctoral Fellowship from Ontario Graduate Scholarship (Canada) for 2011-2012. Anozie is Vice-President APGC (ap-gc.net). He has published extensively, among them is the 2020 Hans-Georg Gadamer and African Hermeneutic Philosophy. Anozie’s areas of research include Western Philosophy, African Philosophy and Religions, Africana Studies, Applied Ethics, Hermeneutics, Continental Philosophy, Hermeneutic of Political Belongingness, Social and Political Philosophy.
Dr. Aderemi Oladele specialises in international development policy, Africa’s geopolitics, governance and public sector management. He works as a Senior Research Officer at the Permanent Delegation of Nigeria to UNESCO in Paris. His research interests are in Africa’s geopolitics and political economy; sustainable development; results culture in international development management; and the linkages between internationally development policy, national and local development.Aderemi is the Founder and Lead Analyst at 3psmars International, a nonprofitthink tank focused on capacity building and knowledge management for development effectiveness, with special focus on Africa.
Dr. Kanakulya Dickson is a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Makerere University. He holds a PhD (Makerere-Uganda); Licentiate (Linköping-Sweden); MA Philosophy (Bergen-Norway) and BA (Makerere-Uganda). He has research interest in bioethics, governance philosophy, sustainability studies, social justice, philosophy of peace, and futures research. Dickson has been involved in national, regional and international collaborative research and has several published works to his credit. He’s also a member of various research networks including: Alternative Perspectives on Global Concerns (APGC) group; Africa Policy Centre (APC) think tank; the European Society for Research in Ethics (Societas Ethica); and the Academic Network on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (ANLEP).
Dr. Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu is a Professor of African Religion and Cultural Studies. He is currently the Rector of Villanova Polytechnic, Imesi Ile, Osun State and a Visiting Professor to the University of Jos, Plateau State and the Augustinian Institute, Makurdi. He is a member of the Governing Council of Veritas University Abuja, Nigeria; the Global President of the World Cultural Studies Research Association (WCSRA) based in India and the President of the Association for the Promotion of African Studies (APAS). Kanu is the Editor-in-Chief of IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities (IAAJAH); Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development (JASSD); Villanova Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and AMAMIHE: Journal of Applied Philosophy.
Dr. Mahmoud Masaeli is a Canadian Iranian political philosopher, ethicist, spiritualist, poet, and a global think tank leader. His area of research interest includes Global Ethics, Global Justice, Hermeneutics of Selfhood, Human Rights, Human Development, and universal spirituality. Mahmoud is the Founder and Executive Director of APGC (ap-gc.net). Mahmoud has published extensively in global ethics, global development, spirituality and ethics of globality. He also a visiting professor at Ottawa University. He will chair and speak in this seminar.
