Interrupting separateness, disrupting comfort: An autoethnographic account of lived religion, ubuntu and spatial justice

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Interrupting separateness, disrupting comfort: An autoethnographic account of lived religion, ubuntu and spatial justice
 
Creator Eliastam, John
 
Subject Theology; Practical Theology Autoethnography; lived religion; ubuntu; spatial turn; spatial justice
Description This article uses a fictionalised encounter as the basis for an autoethnographic exploration of the intersections between the South African social value of ubuntu and the notion of spatial justice. Ubuntu describes the interconnectedness of human lives. It asserts that a person is only a person through other people, a recognition that calls for deep respect, empathy and kindness. Ubuntu is expressed in selfless generosity and sharing. The spatial turn in the social sciences and humanities has resulted in a concern with the relationship between space and justice. It recognises that space is not simply an empty container in which people live and act, but is something that is constructed by social relations – and simultaneously constitutive of them. While this recognition gives rise to spatial perspectives on justice, what constitutes spatial, justice, as distinct from other notions of justice, and how such justice is to be achieved are contested. Building on the work of legal scholar, Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, on spatial justice, I argue that the notion of ubuntu is able to shape our understanding of spatial justice, and when practised, it is able to disrupt space and challenge dominant spatial configurations.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2016-11-25
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Narrative inquiry
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v72i1.3488
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 72, No 1 (2016); 8 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3488/8994 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3488/8993 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3488/8995 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3488/8913
 
Coverage South Africa 2015 Various
Rights Copyright (c) 2016 John Eliastam https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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