From Utopia to Dystopia?
An Account of African Liberation Philosophy
Lecture by José P. Castiano
Lecture Series “Transatlantic Resonances”
GloPhi Center (Main Campus, H.0.10) & Live Stream
9 June 2026, 2 p.m. (CEST)
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), carried by San Domingo’s African descendants, should be placed, in the so-called “universal” philosophy of history, as a turning point into modern times, parallel to and in combination with the French Revolution (1789). In the same way, the accomplishment of the liberation movements and struggles for African nations’ independence (1958–1975) should be seen as the affirmation of the entrance of Africans and the entire world into the postmodern era.
However, the post-independence era, in the march toward nation-building and the transformation of the Organization of African Unity (1963) into the African Union (2002), revealed a threefold kind of “deception”: Firstly, independence did not automatically translate into individual liberties/rights for all citizens (democracy); secondly, national liberation did not translate into the elimination or, at least, the reduction of poverty (development); and, thirdly, the victory of the majority or “of the people” did not mean respect for minorities (political and ethnic diversity).
The presentation will focus on these three “deceptions” and look at how, through a) a new paradigm of African philosophical thought (reconciliation), b) contemporary struggles for democracy (against autocracies), and c) development (against poverty and hunger), these efforts can be carried forward by both sides: Afro-diasporic and continental Africans.
The lecture will be held together with Luis Martínez Andrade’s lecture “From Dependency to Liberation”.
About the Presenter
José P. Castiano is a Mozambican philosopher and professor in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Pedagogical University / Universidade Pedagógica de Maputo. Born in Beira in 1962, he studied at the University of Greifswald and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He holds the chair in African Philosophy, with a specialization in education. In his teaching activities, he collaborates with institutions such as Eduardo Mondlane University, the University of Barcelona, Agostinho Neto University, the Academy of Police Sciences, the Polytechnic University, and the University of Coimbra. He coordinates the research groups on African philosophy and gender relations, as well as the research group on national reconciliation at UP-Maputo.