Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Digitality is increasingly central to individuals' existence, which has political implications. The article maps the political implications of digitalisation, focusing on African political thought. The latter is marked by Afro-communitarianism ideas, which foster solidarity, relationality, and communalism as foundational values of the polity. However, African communitarianism has granted little attention to contemporary phenomena such as digitalisation. Also, political theory discussions on digitality have looked mainly at (neo)liberal contexts. How the digital age is reshaping the tenets of communitarian political theories represents an underdiscussed issue. This article outlines a research agenda on digitality and African political thought. New digitality-enabled relational modes change human and political interactions. The issue at stake is how these new modes challenge or strengthen the Afro-communitarian political outlook. This article recognises digital-humanism, political community, relations of power as central matters of inquiry. The analysis relies on bibliographic sources from African philosophy and comparative political theory.

Abstract
This paper explores the political thought of Guinea-Bissau, focusing on the endogenous notions of community and consensus. The analysis turns on discerning the principles underpinning political power and power relations in the organicist setting. The paper considers the indigenous polity and its underlying tenets, by unveiling the centrality of the past, land (tchon), and kinship (djorson) in conceptualizations of the political community. These determine a polity ruled by participatory politics and "brotherhood consensus" (consenso di irmandade, in local creole). As this notion of "brotherhood" is tightly linked to the foundations of the political community, the Bissau-Guinean polity pins consensual politics to ontology. This ontological basis fosters commitment to engage in and reach consensus.
This analysis adds to studies on African political thought and theories of consensual democracy. Moreover, the insights offered, however spatial-specific, exemplify the potential of renewed analysis of notions of the political community in Africa and beyond, enriching the repertoire of political theory research.

Tese especialmente elaborada para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciência Política ; This dissertation analyses power principles and configurations in Guinea Bissau's pluralistic political scenario, as highlighted by the phenomenon of the criança-irân (spirit-children). Working within a political theory framework, the grounds for the analysis are endogenous conceptualisations of humanness. The qualitative study takes an interpretivist epistemological and inductive-deductive approach. Its conceptual groundwork is in political relations and intersubjectivity (Levinas, [1946/7] 1987; Bongmba, 2001, Han, [2005] 2019); biopolitics (Agamben, 1995, 1996); communitarian political community (Menkiti, 2002, 2004, Gyekye, 2003, Wiredu, 2001); and the Africanisation of power (Chabal, 1992). The thesis offers an analytical model comprising of three category-concepts: bíos zōḗ, nomos, and locus. The phenomenon of the criança-irân complements the conceptual framework as analytical lenses. The existence of these liminal and hybrid beings (neither human or spirit) points to the threshold ordering relations of power between a political subject (ego) and political subjects other than oneself (alter). The centrality of intersubjective relations, along with the ontological relevance of community and kin (djorson), past-ward temporality, and land (tchon) show the binomial ego-djorson as foundational to the political community. The endogenous polity devises a configuration of power (nomos) that combines the symbolic duties of chiefs with communal councils. As these give preference to participatory, dialogical, and consensual politics, they reveal intersubjective power relations at odds with the foundational principles of the official state nomos. The criança-irân is the signifier of humanness, political relations, and the order of the polity. Broad acknowledgement or acceptance of the phenomenon augments the intermingling of power principles and configurations beyond the institutionalised nomoi. The political space is an example of ...

The present article aims to unveil the importance of the indigenous animist religious system within Guinea Bissau political culture. By analysing the contrast between the inherent legitimation of State authority and local-traditional ones it is discerned the type of political culture shared by Guinean people. Taking into account the exacerbation of public responsiveness to symbols manipulation when levels of human security are felt lower by individuals, I discuss the importance of religious symbolic capital inherent in Guinea Bissau national leaders' politics, pinpointing the case of José Bernardino "Nino" Vieira. These practices enable State authorities to legitimize their authority, to overcome the ethnical heterogeneity impasse and to compensate for loose relationships between the government and the citizens. Finally, I discuss the manipulation of the religious dimension for political ends as a milestone of the process of africanization of power, due to religious and political syncretism typical of traditional African political systems, on the one hand. On the other hand, I question how myths worshipping the national leaders might foster the breakthrough of an authoritarian political regime.

Abstract
The article deals with critiques of liberal majoritarianism from an African, chiefly sub-Saharan-African perspective. It explains the central claims African and Africanist critics advance against liberal majoritarianism and indicates potential normative ways of development. The case study of Guinea-Bissau exemplifies our arguments using a qualitative analysis of interviews with local respondents. The article infers that this is an instance of a more general perception of liberal majoritarianism in Africa. The article contributes to critiques that range from empirical and theoretical concerns over the feasibility of this model in sub-Saharan Africa to analyses of cultural, social, and political specificities.

The premise of this paper emerges from an understanding of political turmoil and recurrent instability as being due to the process of the Africanisation of power. My aim is to discern this idea in relation to Guinea-Bissau. Since 1994, the West African country has experienced continuous political instability. So far, political analysis has pinpointed the rationale of Bissau-Guinean political turmoil as dependent on the ethnicisation of power and a dysfunctional state. The first is largely due to the role played by the Balanta ethnic group. While much harm was inflicted on the Balanta in the past, the group assumed power through its domination of the military. The second phenomenon relates to a political class unprepared for office yet committed to the misappropriation of power and resources, engendering failure of the state and its institutions. Without discarding these hypotheses, I argue that the underlying rationale of Bissau-Guinean political turmoil is further related to the Africanisation of power. The latter is a bi-directional process, in which the state influences indigenous political powers and vice versa. This paper identifies how these political powers differ in their configuration of the polity and in the policies applied, leading to discrepant political behaviours in their subjects.