The Search for an African Feminist Ethic: A Zimbabwean Perspective

In the field of ethics, women have been portrayed as inferior to men due to androcentric attitudes (male-dominated ethics) that seems to define men as custodians of what is right or wrong. This andro-centric ethic has taken women out of the academic limelight as they are portrayed as less able to make valuable contributions in philosophy (ethics) and other fields of academic inquiry. It is encouraging to see feminist movements emerging, in the twenty-first century, to challenge this misplaced kind of thinking. This challenge is laudable and in this paper, I make an attempt to show that while women in the West have fought for their place in society resulting in developing ‘the ethics of care,’ women from Africa are still struggling to find their feet. The African woman’s moral point of view is still far from being respected because of the whims and caprices of patriarchy which is camouflaged in the communitarian philosophy of hunhu or ubuntu. Against this background, the paper seeks to show that an African feminist ethic can be developed and the fight for public recognition must begin in the home, taking cognizance of the fact that African women face several challenges as custodians of value. The paper argues that reclaiming motherhood in the context of the fight against HIV and AIDS will be a key step towards the realisation of African women’s moral vision

Mainstreaming English language, mathematics and science in Zimbabwe: some ethical challenges

A research article on the ethical challenges obtaining in the Zimbabwe school curriculum.In this paper, we made the claim that there is a problem with the way the current Zimbabwean education curriculum is designed and implemented in both primary and secondary schools where subjects are put before the learner and learning often proceeds with the curriculum stipulating the subjects to be taught in order of their importance, with certain academic subjects being given more prominence than others. In getting to the above conclusion, we utilised the document research method. We argued for the need to give equal prominence to all academic subjects in order to develop a balanced graduate. This claim was made out of the realisation that education was multi-dimensional; that is, apart from developing cognitive/intellectual capacities in the child, it also promoted the development of the physical and moral powers of the learner. Against this backdrop, we argued that the development of the physical powers ofthe learner would only be made possible through the emphasis on the teaching of physical education and sport while the moral abilities of the learner would be awakened through emphasizing the teaching of indigenous languages as well as religious education among other humanities subjects

Issues on Curriculum Development for Moral Education

A ZJER article on curriculum development for the Zimbabwe educational system.Curriculum design and implementation has been a preserve of educational policy makers and curriculum designers from time immemorial More often, emphasis has been on drawing up a curriculum that prepares children for the world of work. This has been the situation in independent Zimbabwe. Very little attention has been given to traditional moral values when setting up curriculum objectives, yet there has been moral decadence in contemporary society due to the failure by social institutions such as schools and universities to teach moral values. Curriculum designers have not put much weight on the need to introduce the moral dimension in the school curriculum. This article makes an attempt to suggest a moral education curriculum that takes these cardinal virtues into consideration

Re-Examining the Source of Morality in Citizenship Education : A Brief Response to Aristotle

A ZJER article on moral education in Zimbabwe Primary Schools.The work has established that the teaching of moral virtue (as providing a rationale for authoritative appeals to morality) has been woefully lacking in African schools today and so there is need to revisit it if children are to be molded into good moral citizens. Through the use of conceptual analysis and the questionnaire method, it was observed that authoritative appeals to morality alone could not increase the child's moral awareness; neither did it improve the child’s moral reasoning structures. About 60 pupils from four primary schools in Harare participated in "this study and the results of the study showed that authoritative appeals to morality did very little in morally conscientising children in primary schools. The study also challenged Aristotle who had argued that moral virtues could not be taught as they were informed by habit (Ostwald, 1962:33). The work advocated for the position that moral virtue cannot be formed by habit alone. Rather; it can be aided by moral instruction, as this would provide the underlying rationale or justification for authoritatively appealing to moral rules and principles. To this end, the paper re-examined some of the moral rules and principles (as sources of morality) with a view to establishing whether through appealing to such rules and principles, moral virtue can be successfully cultivated in our citizens. These two sources were divided into authoritative and rational appeals to rules and principles in citizenship education

Challenges facing student affairs practitioners in Zimbabwean universities: the call for a higher education meta-normative framework

A research paper on quality assurance in student affairs management in Zimbabwean universities.In this study, we have argued that it is not possible to talk of quality assurance in student affairs management without a clear articulation of the theoretical meta- normative framework for higher education that will enable student affairs practitioners to visualize, articulate and carry out their mandate. We have argued that before talking about quality assurance in student affairs management, it is critically important to define education, outline its aims and discuss its philosophical underpinnings. We have noted also that the reason why student affairs practitioners are facing challenges related to quality issues has more to do with the lack of a conceptual understanding of education and the “one-size-fits-all ” model which most universities are using to manage student affairs

Delineating structural and ethical shades of sports administration in Zimbabwe: a case Study of Mashonaland Central's rural schools.

Journal Article,In this article I investigate the role of sports administration in the development of talent in rural Zimbabwe and the ethical challenges therein. I defend the thesis that sports administration is a key component of sport development in any country as sport is a source of livelihood for many people in both developing and developed economies. Sport also unifies people by breaking social (artificial) barriers caused by race, gender ethnicity and class which continue to divide people especially in contemporary Africa. This topic is important in that it advances new knowledge about the nature of sport administration among disadvantaged groups in third world countries. I concentrate on football and athletics as these appear to me, to be easier to administer especially in poor rural areas and I chose Mashonaland Central Province as a case study based on my personal experiences as a former high school teacher and sports master in the province.,University of Zimbabw

Echoing Silences as a Paradigm for Restorative Justice in Post-conflict Zimbabwe: A Philosophical Discourse

Drawing corroborative data from Echoing Silences (1997), an internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean liberation war novel written by Alexander Kanengoni, the article explores some perspectives on the history of violent pasts and restorative justice that can be of use to post-conflict Zimbabwe. Considering that Zimbabwe is a country freighted with a history of violent pasts starting from the armed struggle in the 1970s, the Matabeleland atrocities in the 1980s as well as electoral violence from the 1980s to date, the article argues that the message of violence and the project of restoration canvassed for in Echoing Silences present important insights that can be useful to efforts aimed at national healing and development. The effects of the history of violence on individuals, nation and community have largely received cursory attention, and in a number of instances, these effects have been left unattended for political expediency since addressing them would create a counter¬narrative to ZANU PF's revolutionary mission by exposing and accepting the violent nature of nationalism before and after the attainment of political independence. For that reason, the article argues that the violent pasts, as portrayed in the historical novel, need to be acknowledged and effectively dealt with on the basis of people's lived experiences. Both the wronged and the wrongdoers need to be involved in this exercise in order to unburden the past, the present and the future

The ethics behind the fast-track land reform programme in Zimbabwe

A position paper on the ethical perspective of Zimbabwe government's land reform programmes.A lot has been written about the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe. Since 2000, there have been critical academic contributions from the humanities, social sciences, life-sciences as well as the natural sciences on this highly emotive subject. While most contributors have focused on the socio-economic and political dynamics of the FTLRP, and while most contributors have blamed the government of Zimbabwe for what they have perceived as injustices perpetrated against a remnant of the white commercial farmers who owned the biggest chunk of the land, we look at the ethical dynamics of the FTLRP with a view to show that the government of Zimbabwe was justified in taking land from these white commercial farmers and giving it to the landless blacks. In our view, the government of Zimbabwe was justified for two reasons: Firstly, we argue that those who have blatantly criticised the government of Zimbabwe for being unjust in its re-distribution of land to the landless blacks have selective memory. Secondly, we argue that those who have blamed the government on this issue have little knowledge of the spirit and ethics that informed this drive. As we defend our argument, we utilise two dialectically opposed perspectives, namely: the human rights perspective which is made up mainly of those people who have criticized the FTLRP for violating or infringing the rights of the few white commercial farmers ‘whose’ land was taken by the landless blacks as well as the perspective of those who have defended the FTLRP for correcting a historical imbalance with regard to the re-distribution of fertile /and to the black majority. We discuss these two perspectives in the context of Zimbabwe’s founding values and ethics

Discussing inclusive development and governance in Zimbabwe: Pragmatizing Hunhu/ Ubuntu philosophy

In this paper, I reflect on whether the new Zimbabwe government under the presidency of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has the capacity to arrest the developmental challenges facing the country in order to bring about inclusive development which will see the needs of the marginalized or excluded groups such as the poor, women, children, the elderly and people living with disabilities being addressed. I argue that two of the biggest problems bedeviling Zimbabwe today are chronic poverty and disease, which are a legacy of the Zimbabwe government led by ousted former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. I contend that Mugabe’s government failed to manage its politics, which, in turn, resulted in the decline of Zimbabwe’s economy in the last two decades leading to high unemployment, hyperinflation, brain drain, cash crisis and the outbreak of diseases among a host of problems. My claim is that the effects of the problems listed above are still being felt today. I submit that although the philosophy of hunhu/ubuntu became endangered during Mugabe’s reign, it can still be deployed in the new dispensation to bring about inclusive development by coming up with policies that will attract investors through improving relations with the developed world as well as dealing with the problem of corruption. Keywords: Governance, Development, Inclusive Development, Marginalization, Hunhu/Ubuntu

‘Dismantling “Reason-based Moral Status†in Environmental Ethics.’

This paper was presented in the department of philosophy of the University of Fort Hare as part of the philosophy colloquium series running under the theme Being Human in August 2009. The original manuscript carried the title: Man – A Moral Ape? On Singer and Naess: The Roots All Beings Share. I have since incorporated comments by those who attended the seminar, in order to give the article its present shape. The article now carries a new title which is very specific to the issues being addressed as recommended by the participants.,This article critically explores the assumptions of ‘reason-based moral status’ theorists, as well as ‘sentient’ theorists in establishing moral status. While ‘reason based moral status’ theorists regard reason as the key defining feature of moral status; Peter Singer names sentience as the defining characteristic of moral status. Having looked closely at these submissions, I argue that both arguments are morally repugnant. I maintain that reason is just but one criterion of establishing moral status and it will be wrong to suppose that only reason defines moral status, as nonhuman animals are not endowed with this capacity and hence cannot be disadvantaged because of a capacity which they do not possess in the ‘state of creation.’ In my submissions I also observe that sentience has degrees which Singer fails to identify and discuss. My thesis is at variance with these two positions; for I take it that sentience may not be limited to a mere feeling of pain and pleasure. Against this background, I dismiss Singer’s sentience argument and call for a return to the ‘state of creation’ where all living beings are equal on the basis of having lifespan, species and genus specifications, the brains as well as having flesh and blood