Phenomenology of contingency: Reflections on More’s African phenomenology

Abstract

There is a need for the exploration of works of African phenomenologists such as the work of Mabogo More. This article aims to serve such an exploratory purpose by introducing central aspects of More’s approach to African phenomenology. I try to show how More draws on the works of Fanon, Heidegger, Biko, Gordon, Manganyi, and especially Sartre, to develop what he calls an African existentialist phenomenology. A central theme in his work is the concept of contingency, more specifically, the contingency of what he calls “being-black-in-the-world”. More’s specific concern with contingency is not merely out of theoretical interest, but rather he views it as the “origin” of racism and as such as an existential problem. I argue that More’s theoretical work on contingency distinguishes his own approach to African phenomenology, and further, that his theoretical analysis leads to his practical advocacy for strategies against racism, which gives his approach to African phenomenology its further distinguishing features.