African Philosophical Perspectives on Global Economic Inequalities: Rethinking Justice, Development, and Human Dignity
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Global economic inequality remains a persistent structural and ethical challenge, exposing the limitations of dominant distributive and growth-oriented development paradigms. This study examines African philosophical perspectives, with particular emphasis on Ubuntu, as a framework for rethinking global economic inequalities through the interconnected concepts of justice, development, and human dignity. The primary objective is to explore how African philosophy provides a broader and more holistic understanding of inequality beyond conventional economic indicators and market-based approaches. The study is anchored on a theoretical framework that integrates Ubuntu, decolonial thought, dependency theory, and structural political economy to explain both the ethical and structural dimensions of global inequality. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach based on a conceptual review of relevant scholarly literature, documentary sources, and case studies. The findings reveal that African philosophical perspectives conceptualise global economic inequality as both a historically produced structural condition and a relational-ethical failure that undermines human dignity, social cohesion, reciprocity, and collective wellbeing. Ubuntu emerges as a normative alternative to individualistic and neoliberal development models by advocating relational justice, communal responsibility, and inclusive human-centred development. The study concludes that African philosophy offers a transformative framework for understanding and addressing global economic inequalities by integrating ethical principles with structural analyses. It recommends incorporating African philosophical insights into development policy, operationalising human dignity and relational wellbeing within inequality assessment frameworks, and advancing epistemic pluralism in global research and policy discourse on economic inequality.
Authors: Onuk Bulus Ojem, Phemelo Olifile Marumo
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225644707
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: