Colin Chasi

Violent communication is not alien to ubuntu: Nothing human is alien to Africans

Abstract Human life is characterised by violence to such an extent that pessimists may be justified to say it is better to never have lived. In contradistinction the author claims that because life is characterised by violence it is worthwhile that the African moral philosophy of ubuntu says people should seek the beautiful, great and good. He contends that over, against and within the violence that defines the condition of being human, ubuntu is open to the varied uses of cooperation and violence in pursuit for the beautiful, great and good. À la Terence, the argument is made here that Africans are human and all things human are possible for Africans.

Role models in politicians will disappoint you: Cautionary notes on Aids leadership in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract In the face of HIV/Aids the call for political leadership is often made. Invariably, one form that this call takes involves leaders being called upon to act as role models. But time after time scandalous revelations arise. These scandals appear to have the potential to damage efforts to address HIV/Aids. This article assumes that it is not appropriate to attempt to limit public expression concerning the sex-related behaviours of politicians. The author further notices, with reference to post-apartheid leadership in South Africa, that the actions, behaviours and motivations of political leaders cannot be readily assumed to result in desired behaviours in relation to HIV/ Aids. It is proposed that rather than cynically saying we are waiting for ideal leaders to arise, we can embrace the challenge of our time by first allowing ourselves to question the status quo. The aim is to recover questions of the possible roles of politicians as questions of how human relations can be achieved. In other words, the aim is to argue for an approach that humanises both politicians and those who would (be given to) follow them.

Tutuist Ubuntu and Just War

ABSTRACT Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu is renowned for promoting peace, harmony and reconciliation in ways that are now associated closely with the African moral philosophy of ubuntu. He won the Nobel Prize for Peace for his nonviolent role in the fight against apartheid. His conception of ubuntu has come to be widely referenced in debates and judgements related to the transformative democratic constitution of the new South Africa. Tutu articulates ubuntu, in tandem with his Christian beliefs, as a means for achieving reconciliation and harmony where critics call for radical transformative violence. Scholars have recognised how Tutu’s unique African Christian perspective shapes his version of ubuntu. This article adds to this literature by focusing on how Tutu’s Christian conception of ubuntu informs his judgement, practice and thinking regarding just war. Given that black people have been historically denied serious recognition, the recognition of Tutu’s unique contributions to ubuntu that this article pledges has important epistemological cum ontological and political significances.

What we should have learnt from Mandela

ABSTRACT Arguments have been made that leadership communication influences contexts in which HIV/AIDS and other programmes play out in ways that determine likely outcomes. Indeed, a recent trend in leadership communication studies has been to realise that leadership communication functions in broader resource systems, structures, and cultures that should be taken into account collectively. Whatever the case, studies and popular discourses on HIV/AIDS leadership continue to be dominated by an interest in the idea that people can be led to good health by leaders who communicate appropriately. Yet we do not have studies that examine the experiences of the leaders who produce the communication that is at stake here. This article does this, focusing on lessons we should have learnt from how Nelson Mandela addressed the wicked problem that is HIV/AIDS.

Smash-and-grab, truth and dare …

In this article, we daringly advance a ‘smash-and-grab’ approach as a radical epistemic grounding for communication studies. We draw inspiration from African scholarship, legitimating the ‘smashing and grabbing’ of usable and valuable insights from anywhere while viably calling for the construction and elaboration of conceptual schema that are locally relevant. In this way, we seek to reclaim the common humanity of scholars and to counter the current insularity by which communication scholarship remains steeped in archaic, patriarchal, and decidedly racialised ideas of the West and the rest.

The truth and nothing but the truth: a re-affirmation and re-evaluation of undercover journalism practices

ABSTRACT The role of journalism in contemporary society is highly debated and highly contested all over the world, even more so in the context of young democracies. We note that in societies where journalism faces constant threats of tighter government control and where even the most innocuous piece of reporting might be criticised, undercover journalism treads a particularly thin but necessary line between the institutionally censored and the ethical-legal. Where journalists are subjected to rebukes, harassment, and worse, by government and public officials, we argue that we need not only re-affirm the role of journalism but even more so investigative journalism, and undercover journalism in particular. As such, we make a call for, as well as investigate the possibility for a reaffirmation of undercover journalism as a practice that describes an essential role that journalism can and should play in society. Taking South Africa as a case study, we investigate the view that at least some journalists, in various ways, do acknowledge that deception and ‘trickery’ are often crucial to uncovering hidden truths as well as new meanings that advance the cause of deepening democracy.

Ubuntu and Freedom of Expression: Considering Children and Broadcast News Violence in a Violent Society

Ubuntu has been described as an African moral philosophy that finds actions grounded on good will to be right if they promote shared identity. I contend that freedom of expression is consistent with ubuntu. Freedom of expression enables people to be the most they can be, enabling the establishment of communities in which people can live together harmoniously. With reference to the violent South African society, the study examines broadcast media violence that may harm children to draw new insights concerning the moral philosophy of ubuntu, media practice, and media literacy.

Ubuntu and Freedom of Expression

This article critically addresses the view that ubuntu values limiting freedom of expression to what elders find agreeable. I present a heterogeneous argument in favor of an attractive conception of ubuntu that values individuals by investing in the worth of community. I assume that socioeconomic development is directly related to the extent to which people are granted freedom of expression. The point is that freedom of expression enables everyone to be respected and governed in ways that are associated with the establishment of communities where everyone can be the most they can be.

Communication and Expressing, Not Speaking, on AIDS

Abstract The aim of this article is not to quibble over the extent, character or purpose of speaking of Africans as people who do not communicate about something that evidence suggests they do speak about. It is not for this author to exhaust the theoretical possibilities by which communication can be said to not have taken place when it is accepted that someone has spoken. The point is to present a persuasive account that says it is strange and harmful that Africans are labelled silent on HIV/AIDS, when evidence shows them speaking about it. Hence, silence is briefly described, illustrations are offered of respected people presenting Africans as silent, and three major conceptual ways by which people are described as not communicating are interrogated. A key contribution of the article is to render it problematic to simply say Africans do not communicate on HIV/AIDS, or to say that our silence is not communication. The conclusion advocates that we avoid repeating without change the history of silencing others, and rather imagine and communicate towards possible futures in which mutual respect and recognition may stand a better chance. This is thus not a call for silencing talk about silence as regards HIV/AIDS, but a call for better communication that commands the respect of each individual.

The future of communication and media studies: we can drop our tools

Abstract This article focuses on the future of communication and media studies in South Africa. As such, it appeals to fragments of pasts and presents. It makes specific reference to two recent projects in the now popular work of scenario building. These two projects are South Africa scenarios 2025: the future we chose? and The Dinokeng scenarios. In the light of overviews of the findings of these two projects, a call is made to establish cultures and therefore practices that enable questioning. In the face of our development challenges, the simple point is that we contribute beyond the ken of any individual when we invest time, resources, hopes and expectations in inquiry. The future of communication and media studies is in our hands. In this sense it is important to offer the obvious answer which says our humanist practice can overcome forms of constraint by which ‘blindness’ is prioritised. This article, then, affirms the view that the grace of the present is of opportunities to change the world by living it.