Beyond the Spirit of Bandung: Philosophies of National Unity: Secular or Religious?

Frans Dokman; Antoinette Kankindi; Frans Wijsen; Cahyo Pamungkas; Qusthan A.H Firdaus; Neema Franklina Mbuta; Thomas Ndaluka; Reet  Hiiemäe; Rajendrakumar Dabee; Uchenna Azubuike Ezeogu; Umezurike John Ezugwu; Olerato Kau Mogomotsi

doi:10.54195/FLRI3273

Beyond the Spirit of Bandung: Philosophies of National Unity: Secular or Religious?

Authors

Frans Dokman (ed)

Radboud University Nijmegen

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7943-6573

Antoinette Kankindi (ed)

Strathmore University, Kenya.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6845-5680

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273

Keywords:

Bandung Conference, National Unity, Philosophy, Religion, Secularism, International Relations

Synopsis

The 1955 Bandung Conference was an Asia-Africa forum, organized by Indonesia, Burma, India, the then Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Pakistan. Representatives of 29 independent Asian and African countries met in Bandung, Indonesia, to discuss matters ranging from national unity, cooperation, decolonization, peace, economic development and their role to play in international policy. The ten points’ declaration of the conference, the so-called ‘Spirit of Bandung’, included the principles of nationhood for the future of the newly independent nations and their interrelations. After the conference most ‘non-aligned’ Asian and African countries opted for philosophies of national unity to guarantee peace and stability.

Much is required of a philosophy of national unity. It should connect and inspire citizens via shared ideals, provide a basis for equal citizenship, construct a national history and national identity, being the foundation for laws and institutions etc.. Nowadays, changed international relations have created a diversity of views on secular or religious philosophies of national unity. This development has only made the question of the role of religion in this post-secular era more pressing. In the context of the resurgence of religions, the Bandung conference marks the increasing relevance of the choice at the time for a secular or religious approach. In the African case of Tanzania, the Ujamaa philosophy was secular although Tanzania had a ‘civic religion’. In the Asian case of Indonesia, the philosophy of Pancasila was ‘religious pluralistic’ by recognizing six ‘official’ religions. In both this and other countries, the philosophies of national unity are now contested. Therefore, 68 years after the Bandung Conference, experts from Africa, Asia and Europe do critically answer the questions:
- What philosophy, secular or religious, succeeds or succeeded in promoting peace and stability?
- Are there comparable philosophies of national unity from other countries?

Chapters

1. Introduction

Frans Dokman, Antoinette Kankindi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH01

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2. Indonesia’s Public Diplomacy: Interfaith Meetings in the Netherlands

Frans Wijsen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH02

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3. Coping Intolerance and Separatism in Indonesia: The Pancasila Principles

Cahyo Pamungkas, Qusthan A.H Firdaus

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH03

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4. Pancasila and Ujamaa: Philosophies of Unity for Promoting Tolerance in a (Global) Society Which is Multi-Cultural and Multi-Religious

Neema Franklina Mbuta

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH04

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5. Recycling Ujamaa Philosophy in Tanzania: A Critical Discourse Analysis of John Pombe Magufuli’s Speeches

Thomas Ndaluka

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH05

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6. Earth Religion, “Forest People” and Environmental Disputes: A Case Study on a Pursuit for National Unity and Sustainability in Estonia.

Reet Hiiemäe

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH06

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7. Origination, Transposition and Decolonization: Indian Perspectives on Unity in Mauritius as Basis of the Bandung Conference

Rajendrakumar Dabee

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH07

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8. Intercultural Philosophy as Philosophy of National Unity: An African Perspective

Uchenna Azubuike Ezeogu, Umezurike John Ezugwu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH08

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9. Rainbow Nationalism as a Philosophy of National Unity in South Africa: Interpellation and Disillusionment

Olerato Kau Mogomotsi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH09

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10. Ubuntu Worldview as a Condition of Possibility for National Unity

Antoinette Kankindi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH10

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11. Palaver Platforms: An Ubuntu Initiative for National Unity and Social Media

Frans Dokman

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH11

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12. Epilogue: A National Unity of Citizens, Believers and Dissenters

Frans Dokman, Antoinette Kankindi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FLRI3273_CH12

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Author Biographies

Frans Dokman, Radboud University Nijmegen

Frans Dokman is research affiliate of the Nijmegen Institute for Mission Studies, Radboud University. His research includes African philosophy with a focus on management and sustainability. Recent publications are 'Beyond Bantu Philosophy. Contextualizing Placide Tempels’s initiative in African thought' (Routledge, 2022), 'The mission of authority and obedience. Servant Leadership in the context of Faciem Tuam' (Palgrave, 2022) and 'Adaptation in modern times' (IRM, 2023).

Antoinette Kankindi, Strathmore University, Kenya.

Antoinette Kankindi is Senior Lecturer teaching Ethics and Social Political Foundations of Law at the Law School, Strathmore University, Kenya.

She is also a Research Fellow leading the Integrity Program working on mainstreaming Ethics and Integrity in public life. Kankindi has published studies in the area of the relationship between Ethics and Politics. Other research interests of hers cover political legitimacy, historical and new interpretations of the republican and liberal democracy traditions, as well as their impact on African ideals, values and institutions.

Frans Wijsen, Radboud University Nijmegen, Gadjah Mada University Yoyakarta, Indonesia

Frans Wijsen is professor emeritus at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and adjunct professor at Gadjah Mada University in Yoyakarta, Indonesia. He has conducted research on religious discourses, social cohesion and conflict in The Netherlands (published as De Multiculturele Uitdaging, Amsterdam University Press 2020), Tanzania and Indonesia (published as Religious Discourse, Social Cohesion and Conflict, Peter Lang 2013). Presently he focuses on the relationship between faith-based organisations and environmental challenges.

Cahyo Pamungkas, Research Centre for Areas Studies, Indonesian Institute of Sciences

Cahyo Pamungkas is a research professor in the Research Centre for Areas Studies -Indonesian Institute of Sciences. His studies focuses on ethno-religious groups relations in the Melanesian provinces of Eastern Indonesia. In 2015, Cahyo finished his PhD in Faculty of Social Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, under Ethno-religious Conflict in Indonesia and the Philippines Programme supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)

Qusthan A.H Firdaus, Islamic State University, Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Qusthan A. H. Firdaus serves as a lecturer at the Department of Aqeedah and Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin (Theology), the UIN (Islamic State University) Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. Prior to his work as a lecturer, Firdaus accomplished a postgraduate degree in applied ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia and an undergraduate degree in philosophy at the Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. His research interests are ethics, logic and political philosophy

Neema Franklina Mbuta, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, University of Salzburg

Neema Franklina Mbuta is a philosophy lecturer at the Salvatorian Institute of Philosophy & Theology, St. Augustine University of Tanzania. Mbuta’s research focusses especially on the philosophical and theological concepts of individuality in Ujamaa. The title of her Ph.D. research, at the University of Salzburg, is ‘Individual identity in Ujamaa in the light of Arendt’s theory of action and speech’. Neema Franklina Mbuta is a member of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi.

Thomas Ndaluka, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Thomas Ndaluka is a senior lecturer and Coordinator of the Society and Religion Research Centre (SORRECE) at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is the author of the book entitled: “Religious Discourse, Social Cohesion and Conflict in Tanzania: Muslim - Christian Relations in Tanzania” (2012, LIT, Berlin) and Co-edited the book entitled “Religion and State Revisited in Tanzania”: Reflection from 50 Years of Independence” (2014, LIT, Berlin).

Reet Hiiemäe, Estonian Literary Museum

Reet Hiiemäe is senior researcher of folklore and religious studies at the Department of Folkloristics, Estonian Literary Museum. She has written numerous academic and popular articles and books on folklore as mental self-defense, analyzing the psychological aspects of vernacular beliefs and belief narratives and their impact on people’s life. She has also edited collections of research articles and special issues of academic journals.

Rajendrakumar Dabee, Mahatma Gandhi Institute Mauritius

Rajendrakumar Dabee is the head of the School of Indological Studies and Senior Lecturer at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mauritius. With a PhD in Indian philosophy from Madras University, his extensive 30-year career in education spans from primary to academic. Dr Dabee has authored research papers and engaged in conferences focusing on Indian Philosophy, with a specialization in Advaita Vedanta. Dabee contributes to nation-building and interfaith dialogue, in Mauritius, as a certified trainer for Arigatou International

Uchenna Azubuike Ezeogu, Nigeria Maritime University

Uchenna Azubuike Ezeogu did his Phd in the Department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. Dr Ezeogu started his lecturing career with the Department of Philosophy, Madonna University Nigeria from where he moved to his current institution Nigeria Maritime University. His research areas of interest are: African philosophy; intercultural philosophy; social and political philosophy; ethics, peace and conflict resolution (with a special interest in the study of terrorism).

Umezurike John Ezugwu, Nigeria Maritime University

Umezurike John Ezugwu is a research fellow at the Conversational School of Philosophy, Calabar, Nigeria. He obtained his Doctorate degree in the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar. Currently, he is a lecturer at Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Nigeria. His research interests include: philosophy of education; African philosophy; political philosophy; ethics; philosophy of science.

Olerato Kau Mogomotsi, University of Cape Town

Olerato Kau Mogomotsi is an Ethics lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, University of Cape Town. Here he is completing his PhD on Hegel’s social theory. Mogomotsi’s research focuses on social philosophy, social ontology, epistemic injustice, existential phenomenology and African philosophy. One of his recent publications is ‘On the Object of History and Doing History in the Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa’ (Philosophia Africana, 2022).