PLC1501 ASSIGNMENT 1 2026: CRITICAL ESSAY QUESTIONS
DUE APRIL 2026
For the first assignment, you are required to respond to one essay question of your
choice from the following four (4) options provided.
UBUNTU AND AFRICANA WOMANISM: A DECOLONIAL CONVERSATION ON
POLITICAL COMMUNITY
What does it mean to be human? This question lies at the heart of political philosophy.
For centuries, Western thinkers have answered it in terms of individual rights, rational
autonomy, and the separation of persons. But African philosophy offers a different
answer. According to Mogobe Ramose, a prominent South African philosopher, the
fundamental nature of African reality is captured by the concept of ubu-ntu. To be
human is not a fixed state but a continuous, relational motion. The famous saying
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu means "a person is a person through other persons." No
one becomes human alone.
At the same time, Clenora Hudson-Weems, an Africana scholar, developed the
framework of Africana Womanism. She argued that Black women need their own
political project, one rooted in African culture and designed to meet the collective needs
of Africana communities. For Hudson-Weems, Africana women face specific forms of
oppression that require naming a distinct identity and political agenda.
,Placing Ramose and Hudson-Weems in decolonial conversation raises important
questions about identity, liberation, and community. When the Africana Womanist
project of naming a distinct political identity meets Ramose’s emphasis on becoming
and the interconnectedness of all African being, new possibilities emerge for
understanding political subjectivity, solidarity, and freedom. It invites reflection on
whether identity-based politics can coexist with an ontology of continual becoming, and
on the kind of political community these two thinkers imagine.
Understanding Ramose's Ubu-ntu Ontology
Ramose's philosophy starts from the premise that Western philosophy has dominated
how we think about reality, being, and human existence. He argues that we need to
return to African ways of knowing. At the centre of this return is the concept of ubu-ntu.
The word itself is important. Ubu-ntu consists of two parts. Ubu refers to the underlying,
continuous, universal aspect of being. It is about becoming, not fixed being. Ntu refers
to the particular, concrete, manifested aspect. Together, they express a reality that is
always in motion, always becoming. Unlike Western ontology, which tends to see being
as static and fixed, Ramose's ubu-ntu sees reality as fluid, relational, and dynamic.
What does this mean for human beings? For Ramose, a person does not exist
independently. A person becomes a person through relationships with others. The Zulu
saying Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu captures this perfectly. Your humanity is not
something you possess alone. It is something you receive from others and give back to
others. You become human through the community.
This has deep political implications. If persons are mutually constituted through
relationships, then the idea of the isolated individual, which is so central to Western
liberalism, makes no sense. John Locke imagined individuals in a state of nature,
, already fully formed, coming together to form a social contract. For Ramose, this is
impossible. There is no pre-social individual. We are always already in relationship with
others. The community is not something we choose to join. It is what makes us who we
are.
Ramose also insists on the inseparability of all African being. By this he means that
Africans share a fundamental ontological unity. Despite differences in ethnicity,
language, and culture, there is a common African way of being that colonialism tried to
destroy but never succeeded in erasing. This unity is not about sameness. It is about a
shared orientation towards becoming, relationship, and community.
Understanding Hudson-Weems' Africana Womanism
Clenora Hudson-Weems developed Africana Womanism as a response to two
problems. First, she saw that mainstream feminism, which emerged from white Western
women's experiences, did not adequately address the concerns of Black women. White
feminism focused on issues like glass ceilings and reproductive choice, often ignoring
the poverty, racism, and community destruction that Africana women faced. Second,
she saw that Black nationalist movements, while fighting racism, often reproduced
patriarchy, placing women in subordinate roles.
Africana Womanism, therefore, is a political project grounded in African culture and
designed to meet the collective needs of Africana communities. Hudson-Weems
emphasises several key features.
Africana Womanism is family-centred. Unlike some forms of Western feminism that see
the family as a site of oppression, Africana Womanism recognises that for Africana
people, the family has been a site of survival and resistance against slavery,
DUE APRIL 2026
For the first assignment, you are required to respond to one essay question of your
choice from the following four (4) options provided.
UBUNTU AND AFRICANA WOMANISM: A DECOLONIAL CONVERSATION ON
POLITICAL COMMUNITY
What does it mean to be human? This question lies at the heart of political philosophy.
For centuries, Western thinkers have answered it in terms of individual rights, rational
autonomy, and the separation of persons. But African philosophy offers a different
answer. According to Mogobe Ramose, a prominent South African philosopher, the
fundamental nature of African reality is captured by the concept of ubu-ntu. To be
human is not a fixed state but a continuous, relational motion. The famous saying
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu means "a person is a person through other persons." No
one becomes human alone.
At the same time, Clenora Hudson-Weems, an Africana scholar, developed the
framework of Africana Womanism. She argued that Black women need their own
political project, one rooted in African culture and designed to meet the collective needs
of Africana communities. For Hudson-Weems, Africana women face specific forms of
oppression that require naming a distinct identity and political agenda.
,Placing Ramose and Hudson-Weems in decolonial conversation raises important
questions about identity, liberation, and community. When the Africana Womanist
project of naming a distinct political identity meets Ramose’s emphasis on becoming
and the interconnectedness of all African being, new possibilities emerge for
understanding political subjectivity, solidarity, and freedom. It invites reflection on
whether identity-based politics can coexist with an ontology of continual becoming, and
on the kind of political community these two thinkers imagine.
Understanding Ramose's Ubu-ntu Ontology
Ramose's philosophy starts from the premise that Western philosophy has dominated
how we think about reality, being, and human existence. He argues that we need to
return to African ways of knowing. At the centre of this return is the concept of ubu-ntu.
The word itself is important. Ubu-ntu consists of two parts. Ubu refers to the underlying,
continuous, universal aspect of being. It is about becoming, not fixed being. Ntu refers
to the particular, concrete, manifested aspect. Together, they express a reality that is
always in motion, always becoming. Unlike Western ontology, which tends to see being
as static and fixed, Ramose's ubu-ntu sees reality as fluid, relational, and dynamic.
What does this mean for human beings? For Ramose, a person does not exist
independently. A person becomes a person through relationships with others. The Zulu
saying Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu captures this perfectly. Your humanity is not
something you possess alone. It is something you receive from others and give back to
others. You become human through the community.
This has deep political implications. If persons are mutually constituted through
relationships, then the idea of the isolated individual, which is so central to Western
liberalism, makes no sense. John Locke imagined individuals in a state of nature,
, already fully formed, coming together to form a social contract. For Ramose, this is
impossible. There is no pre-social individual. We are always already in relationship with
others. The community is not something we choose to join. It is what makes us who we
are.
Ramose also insists on the inseparability of all African being. By this he means that
Africans share a fundamental ontological unity. Despite differences in ethnicity,
language, and culture, there is a common African way of being that colonialism tried to
destroy but never succeeded in erasing. This unity is not about sameness. It is about a
shared orientation towards becoming, relationship, and community.
Understanding Hudson-Weems' Africana Womanism
Clenora Hudson-Weems developed Africana Womanism as a response to two
problems. First, she saw that mainstream feminism, which emerged from white Western
women's experiences, did not adequately address the concerns of Black women. White
feminism focused on issues like glass ceilings and reproductive choice, often ignoring
the poverty, racism, and community destruction that Africana women faced. Second,
she saw that Black nationalist movements, while fighting racism, often reproduced
patriarchy, placing women in subordinate roles.
Africana Womanism, therefore, is a political project grounded in African culture and
designed to meet the collective needs of Africana communities. Hudson-Weems
emphasises several key features.
Africana Womanism is family-centred. Unlike some forms of Western feminism that see
the family as a site of oppression, Africana Womanism recognises that for Africana
people, the family has been a site of survival and resistance against slavery,
