African Ubuntu and its View on Law, Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals

This innovative account of wellbeing perspectives of (South) African Ubuntu philosophy sheds new light on sustainability debates. It questions the universality of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The slogan of the Goals, “Leave non-one behind,” begs the question of who is behind and who is ahead. Development is caught in the logic of linear “sustainable” growth of nations and centres around the flourishing of the individual instead of the community. "Life is mutual aid" would be the African approach, which includes a logic of sharing, affirming that one's humanity is tied to others.

With concrete examples of policies, law, jurisprudence on Ubuntu and practice from South Africa, this book is a must read for philosophers willing to think beyond European philosophy, development economists interested in reshaping today’s paradigms, innovative human rights lawyers with a social heart, anthropologists who yearn for a dialogue between worldviews of the Global South and science, and all people who seek new meaning in today’s society.