Abstract:

I intend to shed light on how the fragmentation of memory of self (in this context, self is in the collective to mean people) perpetuates itself in the so-called postcolonial socio-political reality called Africa. To do this effectively, I intend to articulate clearly the defining markers of coloniality of imagination that, of itself, produces an anemic sense of self and the validation of colonial oppressive structures even when the initial producers of colonial exploitation are no longer present physically. “Coloniality of imagination operates with the assumption that non-whites are incapable of possessing epistemic freedom because they are creatures without a history, without a civilization, without the correct cognitive abilities to ask questions that lead to liberation.” Furthermore, I also intend to offer some concrete approaches to overcoming coloniality of imagination in a manner that allows for a decolonial memory of surplus. By embracing a memory of surplus, I argue that an approach to the African sense of agency ought to be the norm in order to foster a culture and praxis of wholeness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reNvhUs_ziA

Theme: “On Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine War”

Speaker: Dr. Thomas Daffern, International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, La Creuse, France

 Dr. Thomas Clough Daffern is a philosopher, historian, poet, author, lecturer, musician, thinker, educator, consultant and peace studies specialist. His academic background includes degrees in European and world history (with political philosophy) and a long period of intense personal study in philosophy, religion and the history of ideas – together with over 30 years teaching experience in the same fields. He has also trained and practised in conflict management within communities and schools, specialising in multifaith and multicultural mediation. He was awarded his PhD from the University of London for a thesis which explores the history of the search for peace from 1945-2001 and which proposes a new field of historiography, Transpersonal History, as the best way to establish a rigorous discourse on peace among rival and contending spiritual and intellectual traditions, currently battling for hegemony on the planet. He is an expert in research techniques and methodologies on all aspects of history, religious studies, the history of world philosophy and transpersonal psychology. He has lectured in peace studies, philosophy and religious studies for many years at the Universities of London and Oxford, and has spoken twice at the UN Headquarters about the role of Universities in changing the climate of fear and violence on the planet to one of trust and wisdom-seeking. He is a founder and coordinator of International Philosophers and Historians for Peace and has worked with philosophers and intellectuals from many countries worldwide to help establish intellectual and spiritual networks for peace and goodwill. In 1990 he was elected in Moscow as Coordinator of International

Philosophers for Peace, a specialist body of philosophers worldwide searching for peace and international understanding.