African Philosophy and the Otherness of Albinism

Albinism is one of the foremost disability and public health issues in Africa today. It often makes headlines in local, national and international medias and forms the basis for intense advocacy at all levels. This is primarily due to the harmful representations of persons with albinism deeply entrenched in African traditions. These deeply rooted ideologies about albinism in African thought have largely promoted the continuous discrimination, stigmatization, harming, killing, commodification and violation of the human rights of persons with albinism in African places. How has albinism emerged as a thick concept in African traditions? What are these deeply entrenched ideas about the ontology of albinism in African thought? What epistemic injustice has been done to persons with albinism in Africa places? Why do harmful beliefs about albinism still persist in modern African societies? How does the African communalistic ethic justify the harm done against persons with albinism? What is the duty to, and burden of, care for persons with albinism? What peculiar existential challenges do persons with albinism in general and females with albinism in particular face in African societies and how can they be overcome? What can be learnt from the education philosophy of reconstructionism and genetic engineering in improving the wellbeing of persons with albinism? African Philosophy and the Otherness of Albinism: White Skin, Black Race digs deep into these philosophical questions revealing fascinating but latent aspects of how albinism is understood in African places as a necessary step to take in improving the wellbeing and integrity of persons with albinism in Africa today. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of African philosophy, sociology, African studies and disability studies.

Elvis Imafidon is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria, and Fellow of the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS). He is the editor of Ontologized Ethics: New Essays in African Meta-ethics (2013) and The Ethics of Subjectivity: Perspective since the Dawn of Modernity (2015). He is also the author of The Question of the Rationality of African Traditional Thought: An Introduction (2013).

Introduction: Albinism, Difference and the Philosophical Turn Chapter One: Albinism and African Thick Conceptualisation Chapter Two: The Ontology of Albinism in African Traditions Chapter Three: The Epistemology of Albinism in African Traditions Chapter Four: The Ethics of Albinism in African Traditions Chapter Five: Albinism in Africa: Some Existential Issues Chapter Six: Overcoming the Violent Othering of Albinism in Africa Today