ABSTRACT

The Rhodes Must Fall social movement infused new life into the decolonisation discourse in Africa. However, whereas most scholars agree on the need for decolonisation, there is little consensus or even clarity on what it actually means in our everyday encounter with others and engagement with reality. Indeed, much of the debate on the issue consists of a recycling of the arguments employed by the first generations of anticolonial/postcolonial scholars and political leaders – a pattern of anti-imperialist thinking and litigation of the past which fails to enhance African self-understanding. This article examines the structure of thought that underlies that pattern and much of Africa’s intellectual decolonisation. I argue that Nelson Mandela understood the risks of the decolonisation arguments embodied by the likes of Robert Mugabe and intentionally adopted a different approach, anchored in encounter as an ethical and epistemic imperative. I therefore propose a theoretical approach drawing on Mandela’s thought and actions and argue that his politics of encounter constitutes a hermeneutic condition for a proper constitution of epistemic decolonisation.

摘要

“罗德必须倒下”社会运动为非洲的非殖民化话语注入了新的活力。然而，尽管大多数学者都同意非殖民化的必要性，但对于它在我们与他人的日常接触和现实接触中的实际意义却鲜有共识，甚至不清楚。事实上，关于这个问题的大部分辩论都是对第一代反殖民/后殖民学者和政治领导人所采用的论点的重复，这是一种过去的反帝国主义思维和诉讼模式，无法增强非洲的自我理解。本文探讨了这一模式和非洲知识非殖民化背后的思想结构。我认为，纳尔逊·曼德拉了解罗伯特·穆加贝等人所体现的非殖民化论点的风险，并有意采取不同的方法，将遭遇作为道德和认知的必要条件。因此，我提出一种借鉴曼德拉思想和行动的理论方法，并认为他的遭遇政治构成了认识论非殖民化的适当构成的解释学条件。