Associate professor, Rhodes University, South Africa

October 2017 until January 2018

In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Lutz-Bachmann

Funded by The Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, Goethe University Frankfurt in cooperation with Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften.

Research project title:
The public sphere in African political thought

Research abstract:
Focusing on analysis of African arenas for deliberation, I aim in my research to demonstrate the possible understandings embedded in these practices that are instructive for democratic theory and practice. I consider this endeavour important for two reasons. The first reason is the need to point out the misunderstandings of these practices in the works of political theorists. The second reason is the need for a reconstructive analysis that could serve as the basis for articulation of a well-founded African political philosophy. It is certainly true that tones of papers and books have been written on the so-called African political condition. From these works, a lot of insights can be gleaned. The major challenge, however, is that Africa is still in search of a model of self-rule that is premised on a plausibly argued political philosophy. This is the goal I am aiming to contribute to in my research. (Uchenna Okeja)

Publications (selection):
»Introduction: Globalizing or Transcending Global Justice?«, In: Philosophical Papers, 46: 1, S.1-11, 2017.
»Reverse Migration, Brain Drain and Global Justice«, In: South African Journal of Philosophy, 36: 1, S.133-143, 2017.
»Evaluating Societies Morally: The Case of Development and ‘Developing’ Societies«, In: Analyse und Kritik, (forthcoming).
»The Moral Challenge of Expatriate Employment in Developing Countries«, In: Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, (forthcoming).
»Palaver and Consensus as metaphors for the Public Sphere in African philosophy«, In: Murad Idris, Leigh Jenco and Megan Thomas (hrsg.): Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, (forthcoming).