Chapter 2

An African Perspective

Overview
• Context of this chapter
• Introduction
• Context of psychology in developing societies
• The ideal western self
• Western psychology & the place of values
• Indigenous psychologies
• Indigenisation
• Do we need an African-based psychology?
• Local knowledge

Context of this chapter

• The very reason I stand before you now
• The past
• The present
• I’m no expert
 • But I can still add value
• I love this module

Introduction
• We’ve discussed the problem of generalised knowledge
• Of which a consequence is the marginalisation of local knowledge
• ∴CP aims to recognise marginalised knowledge to empower individuals
• This chapter seeks to expose you to knowledge that remains marginalised and
debate its usefulness

Context of psychology in developing societies

 Western psychology transferred knowledge generally to us
 A one way transfer
 Felt culture got in the way of their generalisation (culture as superficial, salad
dressing)
 Why?
 Implications?
o Forced theory we must “fit” into, attempts to replicate studies (outliers) &
therapeutic practices tailor made for middle class white males
 Cultural colonisation
o Dismissive of local knowledge and suppressed our ability to create new
knowledge (for ourselves and in western context)
• The monopoly of the west
 West remains in power, we remain consumers
 Knowledge produced is only relevant to select few

The ideal western self

 Key notion is the separation of internal self from external world
 Implies that circumstances are “chosen” not given
 Indigenous view sees self in relation to context (family, community, status)
 Western independence vs indigenous focus on collective
o Implications? Think of the world we currently inhabit

Western psychology & the place of values

 The value of “objective” knowledge and its ability to both oppress and enable
o When revolutionary science became the oppressor
 Their goal was admirable
o BUT we must now ask WHO decides WHAT is true and for what PURPOSE

 Cultural psychology
o Aim to understand the influence cultural traditions and social practices have
on our experience
o No separate self as internal vs external
o Meaning created through interaction between person and culture
(∴ indigenous knowledge as relevant)

Indigenous psychology
 People attempted to make sense of their lives long before psychology came
about
o Meaning of life or how we relate to others and our environment
 Accumulated knowledge of everyday people
 Emphasis on day to day instead of experimental behaviours to address questions
we face everyday
 Emphasis on local knowledge only

Indigenisation
 Attempt to blend existing knowledge and indigenous knowledge at various levels

 Structural – A nations organisational & institutional ability to produce and

distribute relevant knowledge e.g. current publications or technological resources

 Substantive – using psychology to address national policy issues e.g. educational

policies related to language
o Theoretical – Development of theory consistent with the lived experiences of
relevant people

Do we need an African-based psychology?

 We all have the same worldview now anyway so why bother?
o Psychology still only serves a select few
o Research uses the same people over and over (students etc.) but results
apply to all
o Double marginalisation – Ignore our experiences and take away our ability to
talk about ourselves

 Selective acculturation & racism of western philosophy

 o Only select few have access to this “true reality”
o Their knowledge remains privileged e.g. your experience at university
o Many conclude that nothing worthwhile/original has come out of Africa

 Danger of only importing western ideas of reference

o Large percentage of people in developing societies still rely on traditional
healers ∴ you risk only being able to assist the elite
o Impractical to ignore indigenous belief systems

 Educational journey each student takes

o Training in SA
o Research answers western questions
 Those who try are ignored as not “hard-core” enough
 Way education has moulded you
 Student as internal self in control of your circumstances (no context)
 I think so
 Western ideas has potential but we can cannot rely on this potential exclusively
 However, local knowledge not the answer to everything
o We can’t ignore our current context
o Our culture and experience thereof is dynamic

Local knowledge
 In the spirit of critical psychology:
o What would you like to gain from this module – critical psychology
o Personally what are you hoping to discover

Overview
• An African metaphysical system
• The notion of vitality or life force
• The principle of cosmic unity
• Communal life and personhood
• Personhood as a process

An African metaphysical system

 Metaphysics – people’s conception of reality e.g. cultural models or meaning
systems
o Can extend to moral, ways of life or value as true
 Metaphysics and psychology
 o Psychological truths are a reflection of the current dominant worldview
 Today we’ll explore a different worldview
 Which focuses on interdependence and on the practical instead of the
abstract or general

The hierarchy of beings

 Traditionally Africans (who?) believe that all things are connected
 ∴two-way relationship between all things
 Nature and direction of influence depends amount of life force (energy)
 The amount of life force or influence of each object or living thing depends on its
position within the hierarchy

The different levels of being

The notion of vitality or life force

 Life force defined as essence of all phenomena and degree of life force related to
position within hierarchy
o E.g. from the changing of seasons, to the birth of a baby and our
achievements

 Used to make your mark on the world thus the emphasis on good morals (your
actions affect others) and retaining connection to ultimate source of life force
namely God
 Not simply existing biologically but an obligation to contribute meaningfully to
family, community, the world (preservation of human life and conservation of
nature)
o E.g. traditional healers pray before harvesting plants (interconnectedness)

 Nothing by accident (coincidence) but usage of life force = specific outcome at

specific time for someone, somewhere
 Point to appreciate different perspectives
o E.g. value this adds to therapy session (hierarchy)

The principle of cosmic unity

 Interconnectedness between different levels (e.g. human, plants, Inyanya) in the
hierarchy results in directed purpose for each component
 Knowledge is formed through participation and interaction instead of separation
and abstraction
o The reason why community psychology remains relevant in South Africa
(systems theory)
 Quantum physics (newer evolved physics) and relativity theories (Einstein)
see the world as interconnected and ever-changing (dynamic)

Communal life and personhood

 Now you can appreciate why I emphasized the divide between the internal self
and context
 Personhood (being a person) is defined differently as interconnected (not only
physical or psychological) but through participation within a community
o Meaning created through relation to others

 Community as a way of life

o E.g. we call everyone Oom (uncle)

• Important within our context to acknowledge this interconnectedness

• E.g. child headed households, single parents
Criticism of ‘self-in-community’
 Interdependence can lead to being controlled by goals which don’t suit you
personally (lack of individuality)
o “Transcend perspective of community in creative ways” HOW?
o Tension/conflict sometimes requires individuality (different view)

Personhood as a process
 Personhood is earned (not a given) and depends on how you utilise life force
 As a result it is never complete or taken for granted
 Ubuntu keeps personhood practical instead of abstract (action orientated)
o ∴ failure denotes a sense of responsibility for your actions

In conclusion
• This chapter focused on a specific voice (2004) or view of the world but there are
many more in our country
• E.g. Muslim, Afrikaans culture, Gay and lesbian culture, Blessers!
• The ideal is to eliminate all forms of marginalisation and cultural subordination
• Think about the combination of world views between cultures and how this
exposure shapes individuals and communities
• Who it affects and how it affects them
Final thought
Are you willing to remain open to the worldview of others that are different to yours?