The voice from the periphery: Towards an African business ethics beyond the Western heritage

This article argues that African business ethics should go beyond the western heritage by taking into account African indigenous values and knowledge systems. While western business practices are part and parcel of Africa’s heritage, African post-colonial scholarly efforts have worked at enriching this heritage by arguing for the incorporation of African indigenous knowledge systems and values in our way of thinking and doing business. There is a realisation that the western homo economicus who is solely self-interested, is irreconcilable with the African understanding of a person. The success of any business venture in Africa depends on incorporating African values in the way it operates.

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Opening Futures for Nigerian Education – Integrating Educational Technologies with Indigenous Knowledge and Practices

Open Praxis ◽

10.5944/openpraxis.12.1.1055 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 27

Author(s):

Biliamin Adekunle Adeyeye ◽

Jon Mason

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Modern Science ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Digital Revolution ◽

Post Colonial ◽

Historical Perspectives ◽

Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽

Open Education Resources ◽

The Impact

This paper highlights some key historical perspectives and antecedents of African Indigenous knowledge (AIK) and practices while identifying ‘open’ futures and opportunities for the application of digital technologies for educational opportunities that build on this cultural base. The role and negative impact of colonialism in the under-development of AIK is examined in this context together with the impact of post-colonial and contemporary corruption in further undermining the value of Indigenous knowledge systems. Two key concepts are identified as a counterpoint to this: the resilience of AIK and ‘local wisdom’ and the openness underpinning much of the ongoing digital revolution. This natural alignment can help guide the integration of Indigenous-based knowledge and practices and the deployment of open and distance learning in the re-birth of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS). Openness is a pivotal concept here for it is integral to both the architecture of the Web and in its ongoing evolution. Given the identified opportunities associated with digital technology, and despite the challenges, it is argued that there is an unequivocal need for AIKS to explore the advantages of open education resources and practices in promoting this rebirth that is also consistent with modern science and technologies in Africa and beyond.

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Colonizing Innovation:

Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management ◽

10.33114/adim.2019.01.261 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Abhinav CHATURVEDI ◽

Alf REHN

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Postcolonial Theory ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Frugal Innovation ◽

Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽

Management Literature

Innovation is one of the most popular concepts and desired phenomena of contemporary Western capitalism. As such, there is a perennial drive to capture said phenomena, and particularly to find new ways to incite and drive the same. In this text, we analyze one specific tactic through which this is done, namely by the culturally colonial appropriation of indigenous knowledge systems. By looking to how jugaad, a system of frugal innovation in India, has been made into fodder for Western management literature, we argue for the need of a more developed innovation critique, e.g., by looking to postcolonial theory.

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Indigenous Environmental Justice, Knowledge, and Law

Kalfou A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies ◽

10.15367/kf.v5i2.213 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deborah McGregor

Keyword(s):

Environmental Justice ◽

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Indigenous Worldviews ◽

Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽

The World ◽

Innovative Approaches

This article aims to introduce a distinct conception of Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ) based on Indigenous legal orders, knowledge systems, and conceptions of justice. This is not to suggest in any way that the existing environmental justice (EJ) scholarship is flawed; in fact, the scholarship and activism around EJ have been central in diagnosing and drawing attention to injustices that occur on a systematic basis everywhere in the world. This article argues instead that such discussions can be expanded by acknowledging that concepts of environmental justice, including distinct legal orders informed by Indigenous knowledge systems, already existed on Turtle Island for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. It also suggests that environmental justice framed within Indigenous worldviews, ontologies, and epistemologies may make significant contributions to broader EJ scholarship, particularly in relation to extending justice to other beings and entities in Creation. This approach acknowledges ongoing colonialism and emphasizes the need to decolonize in order to advance innovative approaches to IEJ.

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