Harnessing Cultural Capital for Sustainability

Yaya Fonye Odette

Description

This book argues that the basic component of any society's social security and sustainability is cultural capital and its ability to fully recognise diversity in knowledge production and advancement. However, with regard to African societies, since the dawn of racial slavery and colonialism, cultural capital - indigenous knowledge in particular - has iniquitously and acrimoniously suffered marginalisation and pejorative ragtags. Increasingly since the 1990s, cultural capital informed by African knowledge systems has taken central stage in discussions of sustainability and development. This is not unrelated with the recognition by America and Europe in particular of the central role that cultural capital could and should assume in the logic of development and sustainability at a global level. Unfortunately, action has often failed to match words with regard to the situation in Africa. The current book seeks to make a difference by exploring the role that African cultural capital could and should assume to guarantee development and sustainability on the continent and globally. It argues that lofty pan-African ideals of collective self-reliance, self-sustaining development and economic growth would come to naught unless determined and decisive steps are taken towards full recognition of indigenous cultural capital on the continent.

Sujets

• African Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 20 juin 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956762392
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Editored by
HARNESSING CULTURAL
Munyaradzi Mawere &
CAPITAL FOR SUSTAINABILITY Samuel Awuah-NyamekyeTURAL
This book argues that the basic component of any society’s social security and
sustainability is cultural capital and its ability to fully recognise diversity in CAPITAL FOR knowledge production and advancement. However, with regard to African
societies, since the dawn of racial slavery and colonialism, cultural capital –
indigenous knowledge in particular – has iniquitously and acrimoniously suffered SUSTAINABILITYmarginalisation and pejorative ragtags. Increasingly since the 1990s, cultural capital
informed by African knowledge systems has taken central stage in discussions of
sustainability and development. This is not unrelated with the recognition by A Pan Africanist Perspective
America and Europe in particular of the central role that cultural capital could
and should assume in the logic of development and sustainability at a global level.
Unfortunately, action has often failed to match words with regard to the situation
in Africa. The current book seeks to make a difference by exploring the role that
African cultural capital could and should assume to guarantee development and
sustainability on the continent and globally. It argues that lofty pan-African ideals
of collective self-reliance, self-sustaining development and economic growth
would come to naught unless determined and decisive steps are taken towards full
recognition of indigenous cultural capital on the continent.
MUNYARADZI MAWERE holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University
of Cape Town in South Africa. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department
of Social Anthropology at Great Zimbabwe University. His research interests include
knowledge studies, environmental conservation, African studies, post-coloniality, culture
and heritage studies.
SAMUEL AWUAH-NYAMEKYE is Associate Proferssor in the Department of Religion
and Human Values at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Awuah-Nyamekye holds a
PhD from the School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science of the University
of Leeds in the United Kingdom. His current research interests are focussed on religion
and the environment, environmental ethics, religion and development, religion and
politics, and women and religion.
EDITED BY
Langaa Research & Publishing
Common Initiative Group Munyaradzi Mawere &
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda Samuel Awuah-NyamekyeNorth West Region
Cameroon

Harnessing Cultural Capital
for Sustainability:
A Pan Africanist Perspective






Edited by

Munyaradzi Mawere &
Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye















Langaa Research & Publishing CIG
Mankon, BamendaPublisher:
Langaa RPCIG
Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda
North West Region
Cameroon
[e-mail]
www.langaa-rpcig.net



Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective
[e-mail]
www.africanbookscollective.com





ISBN:9956-762-50-4

© Munyaradzi Mawere & Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye 2015

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording,
or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher.

DISCLAIMER
All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.List of Contributors


Munyaradzi Mawere holds a PhD in Social Anthropology
from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Dr Mawere
also holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and B.A (Hons)
Degree in Philosophy from the University of Zimbabwe. He is
currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Culture and
Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe University. Before joining
this university, Dr Mawere was a lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe and at Universidade Pedagogica, Mozambique,
where he has also worked in different capacities as a Senior
lecturer, Assistant Research Director, Postgraduate
Coordinator and Associate Professor. He has an outstanding
publishing record of more than eighty pieces of work which
include more than twenty books and over sixty book chapters
and papers in scholarly journals. His research interests include,
but not limited to, knowledge studies, environmental
conservation, political anthropology, African studies,
decoloniality, post-coloniality, African political systems, culture
and heritage studies.

Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye is Associate Professor in the
Department of Religion and Human Values at the University
of Cape Coast in Ghana, where he also received his MPhil, BA,
and Diploma of Education. Awuah-Nyamekye holds a PhD
from the School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of
Science of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.
Awuah-Nyamekye also has a certificate in HIV/AIDS
Counselling and Care Giving from the University of Ghana.
He is a member of the Association for the Study of Literature
and Environment (ASLE) and the International Society for
Environmental Ethics (ISEE) Representative for Ghana. His
current research interests are focussed on religion and the
environment, environmental ethics, religion and development, religion and politics, and women and religion.
AwuahNyamekye has written and published two books, co-edited two
books and has authored several articles in internationally
esteemed scholarly journals. Awuah-Nyamekye has presented
papers at several international conferences. Awuah-Nyamekye
is an Assistant Editor of De Gruyter Open and as well serves
on the Editorial Board of Philosophy Journal and reviews
articles for several academic journals.

Nelson Chanza is a Researcher in the Department of
Geosciences at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in
South Africa, where he obtained his PhD in Environmental
Geography. Dr Chanza also holds an MSc in Environmental
Policy and Planning and a BSc in Biological Sciences from the
University of Zimbabwe. Dr Chanza has also worked as
lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe since 2007. He has also
actively participated in national and international training and
capacity building programmes on monitoring and evaluation,
poverty alleviation and disaster management planning and
programming. His current research interests are in participatory
climate risk assessment and community-based adaptation.
Nelson has written several articles and book chapters on the
topics of sustainable rural development, disaster management
and indigenous-based responses to climate change.

Moussa Traoré is a lecturer at the English Department of the
University of Cape Coast in Ghana where he teaches
Literature. He received a BA and an MA from the English
Department of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina
Faso and an MPhil from the English Department of the
University of Ghana, Legon. Moussa Traoré holds a PhD in
Comparative Literature from Illinois State University (USA)
and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management from the
same university. He is a member of African Studies Association
(ASA), African Literature Association (ALA) and Modern
Languages Association (MLA). He did some extensive work in Translation-Interpretation (French & English) and his research
interest focusses on Pan Africanism, Diasporan Studies,
Postcolonialism, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), English
as a Second Language (ESL) and Sustainable Development. He
published a book titled Intersecting Pan-Africanisms: Africa, North
America and the Caribbean and several articles in academic
journals. He also presented papers at several international
conferences.

Tapuwa Raymond Mubaya is a Lecturer and a PhD
candidate at Great Zimbabwe University, Faculty of Culture
and Heritage Studies. Before joining Great Zimbabwe
University, Mr. Mubaya worked for National Museums and
Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) for eight years as the
Curator of Archaeology and Head of the Great Zimbabwe
Monument Conservation Centre. Currently he is heading the
Department of Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe
University. Mr Mubaya holds a Master of Arts Degree in
Heritage Studies from the University of Zimbabwe. He is also
a member of the Association of Southern African Professional
Archaeologists (ASAPA) and the Zimbabwe Association of
Professional Archaeologists and related Disciplines (ZAPAD.
His current research interests are focussed on heritage
management and conservation, cultural tourism and museums.
Mubaya has fourteen articles in internationally esteemed
scholarly journals and is the co-editor of the book: African
Cultures, Memory and Space: Living the Past Presence in Zimbabwean
Heritage.

Kojo Okyere is a Lecturer in the Department of Religion and
H