Depersonalisation of young persons on African streets: a philosophical examination of radical Afro-communitarianism

This study, employing the phenomenological hermeneutics of African philosophy, reinvestigates and interprets Afro-communitarianism, unveiling how it is still very much a reality that works as an apparatus which disregards the dignity of young persons who are living or operating on African streets, pejoratively termed as ‘street kids’. These young persons are at times regarded as ‘brutes’, which depersonalises them. This attitude is radically communitarian: one is accorded the person-status if they adhere to and represent certain standards of a given society. We argue that it stands as an assault on human dignity and propose moving from radical communitarian conceptions to a metaphysical outset. The metaphysical approach looks at a person as having intrinsic value: persons with ontological significance. In this regard, there should be an aptitude for experiencing the other not with a lance of a malicious search for sameness, but with a regard for the inherent value of the other person. Those on the streets are to be engaged in their own space, asserting and respecting their identity and dignity as persons.