Paradox beyond East/West orthodoxy : the case of Ubuntu

• That life is inundated with constant push-pull between contradictory demands is indisputable. Different traditions and worldviews inform individuals’ approaches to dealing with the ensuing paradoxes. However, the literature has focused on Western and Eastern philosophies and traditions, while disregarding others such as the Afro-centric. In this chapter, we explore Ubuntu, an Afro-centric tradition, as an alternative philosophical underpinning that can inform the nature of paradoxes. Doing so enriches the understanding, problematizing and managing of paradoxes. Central to Ubuntu is otherness: the emphasis on the need of the other that implies focusing on the other; in doing so, the polarities of diverse needs are accommodated, striving for an ultimate goal of harmony. Moreover, we elaborate on the hybrid space where collapsing the East-West and the West and non-west dualism allows engagement with a multiplicity of worldviews. In so doing, we expand paradox theorizing beyond the orthodoxy of East and West antinomies and challenge the basic assumption in paradox management by asking the question: what if we start from others’ demands?

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Paradox theory

Ubuntu

Afrocentric view

Otherness

företagsekonomi

Business Studies

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)