From fragmented democracy to African Ubuntu: contribution of afro-descendant movements to relational democracy in Latin America

Abstract

This paper is the product of doctoral research and aims to introduce the discussion and analysis of Ubuntu and traditional African philosophy as a contribution to thinking about the fragmentation of democracy in Latin America, giving way to the role that African movements and organizations have in assuming a political and ethical struggle to build a relational democracy as a necessary proposal to the crisis of liberal democracy. The methodology consists of a bibliographic review of literature and intellectuals from the social sciences and African thought to highlight a trend that is not only framed in the questioning of the democratic model in force in Latin America, but also provides some clues for the construction of a community society project in the region, based on relational ontology. It concludes that, in the crisis of the Western political model, the struggles of Afro-descendant movements must transcend the logic of strengthening liberal democracy, to propose the ethical path of Ubuntu as a route to deconstruct the political and societal structures in place, promoting a message of humanity.