GLOBALISATION VERSUS IBUANYIDANDA ONTOLOGY: CONFRONTING THE TENSION BETWEEN THE “SELF” AND THE “OTHER”

Abstract

I shall in this paper seek to unravel the challenges which global expansion as it is practised, poses to the understanding of and the relationship between the “self†and the “other†through the mechanism of Ibuanyidanda ontology. Although globalisation tends to collapse borders and promote social cohesion between cultures and individuals at the polar points of the globe, in practice, the relationship which emerges as a result of this global expansion is fraught with inter-racial, inter-tribal and intergroup tensions. My goal is to show that globalisation is not as inclusivist and tolerant in practice as is suggested in theory. I shall explore this by using the problem of ihe mkpuchi anya (the obstacle of passion which inspires a sectional mind-set as opposed to objectivity in human relations), that is identified in Ibuanyidanda ontology.