Ubuntu has been defined as a moral quality of human beings, as a philosophy or an ethic, as African humanism, and as a worldview. This paper explores these definitions as conceptual tools for understanding the cultural, educational, and philosophical landscape of post-apartheid South Africa. Key to this understanding is the Althusserian concept of state apparatus. Louis Althusser divides the state apparatus into two forces: the repressive state apparatus (RSA); and the ideological state apparatus (ISA). RSAs curtail the working classes, predominately (...) through direct violence or the threat of violence, whereas ISAs function primarily by ideology, including forms of organised religion, the education system, family units, legal systems, trade unions, political parties, and media. This paper discusses the link between increasing inequality in post-apartheid South Africa and education, with specific reference to Althusser’s ISAs and the abuse of Ubuntu as a subterfuge for socio-economic inequality. (shrink)

The term Ubuntu is often presented as a mere ontological, philosophical African worldview. However, the aim of this article is to equate Ubuntu philosophy with a category of open legal principles of a constitutional nature, which, although they are not formally enshrined in the written constitutions of southern African countries that share the Bantu culture, have a normative deontic character. Therefore, it is worth emphasising that this category of thought is socially present as a norm of practical reason, from which (...) emanates the concept of justice of the Bantu peoples, who preserve a communitarian cultural identity rather than individualistic Western liberalism. The purpose of this study is to associate this worldview with a constitutional foundation of African states, especially those in southern Africa, equating it with the principles of human dignity, equality and freedom, etc., which is important for the consolidation of human rights in Africa. On the other hand, this worldview is confronted by the post-modern paradigms of global liberalism, which is also currently amalgamated in African countries. In order to achieve this objective, the research will be conducted using a methodology based on a bibliographical review and a deductive approach, supported by elements of constitutional legal dogma. (shrink)