Ubuntu philosophy,values,and principles: An opportunity to do social work differently

Abstract

Summary

Rising immigration and increasing cultural diversity globally highlight the need to decolonize social work and challenge the hegemony of Western-centric cultural and epistemological foundations. This article explores how Ubuntu philosophy can serve as a global decolonizing framework in social work education and practice. Using a reflective conceptual analysis process, we explored Ubuntu as an alternative paradigm for social work educators, researchers, practitioners, and students. Ubuntu's core values—relationality, collective responsibility, communal accountability, social justice, recognition, and reciprocity—offer a unique framework that sets it apart from other philosophies.

Findings

We propose embracing Ubuntu’s core principles to enrich social work knowledge, theories, and practice, decolonizing and addressing gaps left by Western approaches. We argue that integrating the core values of Ubuntu philosophy can significantly enhance social work practices.

Applications

This article contributes to ongoing discussions on decolonization and the importance of epistemological diversity in redefining social work and exploring new ways of practice.

Introduction

Rising immigration and increasing cultural diversity globally highlight the need to decolonize social work and challenge the hegemony of Western-centric cultural and epistemological foundations. This article explores how Ubuntu philosophy can serve as a decolonizing framework in social work education, research, and practice. We introduce Ubuntu as an alternative paradigm for social work educators, researchers, practitioners, and students. Ubuntu's core values of relationality, collective responsibility, communal accountability, social justice, recognition, and reciprocity—offer a unique framework that sets it apart from other philosophies. Our reflective conceptual analysis process started with a discussion of our frustration with the Eurocentricity of social work frameworks in Australia and how knowledges from the global majority are positioned in Western discourses and professional practices as “marginal alternatives”.

On reflection, despite the challenges we encounter as African scholars in Western contexts, being guided by Ubuntu philosophy has encouraged us to be one with ourselves and our students and to humanize ourselves and our students, especially in such a time when neoliberal politics and (re)colonization are rife in the academy. Therefore, this article advocates for a more intentional space for utilizing indigenous African philosophy, such as Ubuntu, in social work teaching and practice. A critical goal is to build literacy on how students, faculty, and wider society can utilize the Ubuntu philosophy as a decolonizing lens and engage them with Ubuntu principles, values, and ways of doing things. We first began by mapping the literature identification of the Ubuntu philosophy and how it can inform social work practices in highly diversified Western countries such as Australia. Each author was allocated a section to focus on, drawing on our lived and living expertise from each of our countries: Uganda (ST), Kenya (KG), Nigeria (HU), and Zimbabwe (RM). The concepts were collated, and two meetings were held to discuss and theorize the key concepts. A draft was then co-written in a shared collaborative lens, following a baliano approach, which is a method where the drafts were circulated via email, and improvements were made in turns. The article will start with an introduction to Ubuntu, including definitions, followed by an analysis of globalizing Ubuntu and decolonizing social work and a discussion of the implications of social work practice.

The philosophy of Ubuntu

Ubuntu embraces the interconnectedness between humans and all creation, that is, the relationship between people, the environment, and spirituality (Mbiti, 1969; Seehawer, 2023; van Breda, 2019). The unique contribution that sets Ubuntu apart from other philosophies is its depth of meaning on relationality, collective responsibility and communal accountability, social justice, recognition, and reciprocity. These values are the bedrock of social interventions and align with social work's commitment to decolonization, indigenization, and social justice.

Defining Ubuntu

Ubuntu's overarching principle emphasizes “being a person” through others. That is to say, by being experienced and seen as human by others, we become human. This embodiment of human-beingness is encapsulated in the loose translation of Ubuntu, which is; “I am because of who we all are” (Mugumbate & Nyanguru, 2013) or “I am because you are and because you are; therefore I am.” Put this way, Ubuntu suggests that “human individuality is a necessary but not sufficient condition for being a person” (Ramose, 2002, p. 65). As a philosophy, Ubuntu emphasizes that a person realizes themselves through relationships with others—a person is a person because of others—and thereby, through supporting others, a person enhances their life quality (Mayaka & Truell, 2021, Mugumbate et al., 2023). African philosophers such as Mbiti (1969), Kaunda (1966) and Mbigi (1997) have written extensively on Ubuntu philosophy. In his Collective Fingers’ Theory, Mbigi (1997) emphasizes that Ubuntu philosophy is underpinned by social justice and human values of togetherness, solidarity, equity, compassion, and interdependence. On the other hand, Chilisa (2012) pays more attention to the “I/We” notions in Ubuntu which is opposed to the Eurocentric “I/You” relationships that asserts individualism. Other philosophers like Diop (1964, 1974) did not refer to Ubuntu directly, but their ideas and literature contributed to an African understanding of life that challenged a Western view that Africa was philosophyless.

The phrase “a person is a person through other people” underscores the principles of communality, collectivity, and reciprocity that are foundational to Ubuntu philosophy. The term ubuntu ¹ is derived from the Nguni languages of Southern Africa, which comes from the root word tu, found in Bantu languages that are spread throughout Africa. It loosely translates to a shared humanity or the belief in utu (sacredness of humanity). This is expressed in different ways, for example, ubuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (Nguni languages) and munhu munhu nevanhu (Shona languages) to foreground African humanism (Mbiti, 1969), which emphasizes the importance of interdependent relationships that are anchored by a shared humanity.

While the concept of Ubuntu has been apparent in many African societies for centuries, it was explored and documented at length by scholars like the Zimbabwean Stanlake Samkange, who theorized Ubuntu as the recognition and affirmation of others’ humanity and the basis for all respectful human relations (Samkange & Samkange, 1980). They further conceptualized Ubuntu through the three pillars of (a) human relations, (b) sanctity of life and (c) people-centeredness. Ubuntu gained prominence in written political discourses in the 1990s, post-apartheid South Africa, as a foundational principle to foster harmony among various racial and ethnic groups (Kamwangamalu, 1999). Liberation leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu ² are credited with popularizing the concept of Ubuntu, which was seen as different from “Western humanism” (Broodryk, 1996).

Ubuntu has also been defined as “the worldview of black people of Africa from where they derive relational, communal (or collective), societal, environmental and spiritual knowledges, values and practices” (Mugumbate et al., 2023, p. 3). This definition suggests that being an authentic individual human, in the lens of Ubuntu, depends on being part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental, and spiritual world (Mbiti, 1969; Mugumbate & Chereni, 2020; Mugumbate et al., 2023; Seehawer, 2023). As such, being human depends on the continued enacting of our humanness through relating positively to others in our community (Seehawer, 2023; van Breda, 2019) and the environment around us (Mayaka & Truell, 2021). Gatwiri (2020) has also argued that Ubuntu is “being seen and experienced as a full and complete human being”.

It is essential to note that Ubuntu's language, application, and interpretation can vary across African communities and cultures, reflecting the continent's rich diversity. For example, gimuntu (Angola), muthu (Botswana), maaya (Burkina Faso), ubuntu (Burundi), bato (Cameroon), bantu (Congo), bomoto/bantu (Congo Democratic Republic), maaya (Cote d’Ivoire), maaya (Equatorial Guinea), maaya (Guinea), maaya (Gambia), biako ye (Ghana), utu/munto/mondo (Kenya), maaya (Liberia), umunthu (Malawi), maaya/hadama de ya (Mali), vumuntu (Mozambique), omundu (Namibia), mutunchi/iwa/agwa (Nigeria), bantu (Rwanda), maaya (Sierra Leonne), ubuntu/botho (South Africa), utu/obuntu/bumuntu (Tanzania), obuntu (Uganda), umunthu/ubuntu (Zambia) and hunhu/unhu/botho/ubuntu (Zimbabwe) (for more details, see Mugumbate et al., 2023). Among the people of Nubia in Egypt and other countries in North Africa, family values, community, environment, and spirituality are also central (Diop, 1974, 2007; Okafor, 1991). Ubuntu, therefore, exists at four broad levels — the family, community and society, environment, and spirituality, all significant in Social Work discourse, but in this article, we mainly focus more on the first two levels.

Globalizing Ubuntu and decolonizing social work

As the 2021 theme for the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development, the call to embrace Ubuntu is one of the highest levels of global messaging within the social work profession for the years 2020–2030. As a practice-based profession and an academic discipline, social work focuses on promoting social change and supporting the most vulnerable, disempowered, marginalized, and historically disenfranchised and excluded people (AASW, 2020; IFSW, 2014; Kumar & Welikala, 2021; Udah & Francis, 2021). By employing Ubuntu as a paradigm, social workers are more likely to be in a unique but good position to give equity a particularly noticeable priority (Francis & Udah, 2020). Hence, social workers must be more critical of the practices they engage in and the ways in which they fail to advance social justice. Engagement with Ubuntu can help social workers develop humanizing and decolonial practices that reject coloniality, resource exploitation, disadvantage, disempowerment, exclusion, marginalization, and inequality while building spaces of decolonization, indigenization, empowerment, emancipation, justice, and dignity.

Recent world events, including growing immigration and diversity, call for challenging the dominance of Western-centric knowledge production and for the “development of cultural practices, thinking patterns, beliefs and values” that contribute to the advancement and empowerment of historically oppressed non-Western practices, ideas, and principles (Chilisa, 2012, p. 10). Despite espousing a commitment to social justice, anti-oppressive approaches, collective responsibility and collaborative relationships (AASW, 2020; IFSW, 2014), social work, as a discipline and a profession, continues to draw, predominantly, from White Western epistemologies and foundations of knowledge production and practice where colonial structures, policies, and beliefs promote Eurocentric worldviews as universal (Gatwiri, 2019; Gatwiri & Tusasiirwe, 2022; Gray et al., 2013; Tusasiirwe, 2023) and uphold narratives of whiteness and white supremacy as beneficial (Tascón & Ife 2019). In short, social work still operates within a colonial context (Gatwiri, 2019; Tascon & Gatwiri, 2020; Udah, 2020, 2023, 2024). In the majority, social workers continue to practice and be trained in the Western, mainly British, and American models (Udah, 2023) and are influenced by Western principles, values, ethics, and frameworks of intervention, lacking Indigenous knowledges and alternative philosophies, theories, and frameworks (Bent-Goodley et al., 2017). Ubuntu provides social workers with an alternative, a practical opportunity not only to decolonize social work but also to indigenize the social work profession and discipline (Mupedziswa et al., 2019).

By decolonizing social work here, we mean, firstly, acknowledging and naming the cultural and epistemological roots of the current hegemonic White Western social work as organically from the West, particularly the U.S. and the U.K., and thus, disrupting its assumed universality and contextual-lessness (Tusasiirwe, 2023; Udah, 2024). Secondly, it involves questioning the privileging of White Western knowledge and practices in contexts with cultural and knowledge diversity, and finally, articulating some of the alternative or different ways of knowing, understanding, and doing social work (Francis et al., 2020; Udah, 2023). Ubuntu philosophy can be applied to re-imagine how we think about family, community, society, and environment in social work and how people behave in different situations.

Theories not only serve to make sense of the world and analyse social problems, but they also guide practice (van Breda, 2019) at the micro (individual and family), meso (communal), and macro (societal, environmental, and spiritual) levels. Theoretically and epistemologically, Ubuntu aligns with social work's values of dignity and social justice and can help transform social work curricula by encouraging teaching and learning undergirded by values of collectivity and reciprocity toward others, where the classroom becomes a liberatory learning experience to “unlearn” deeply embedded colonial messaging (Maphalala, 2017; Mugumbate et al., 2023). In research, Ubuntu can shape research objectives, building constructive relationships between human beings, and aligning with social work’s emancipatory values (IFSW, 2014; Seehawer, 2023). In practice, Ubuntu is desirable for strengthening different social work practices, e.g., with families and children, young and older people, and for poverty alleviation and crisis situations. Engagement with Ubuntu offers the opportunity to rethink social work in the context of decolonization and neoliberalization. It helps social work to embrace more humanizing and relational practices that reject coloniality while promoting human rights and justice.

Ubuntu values and principles: Putting theory to practice

Considering the above, we now discuss key Ubuntu values and principles that can guide effective social work, indicating what an Ubuntu-informed social work education, research and practice could mean and be. These values and principles include relationality, collective responsibility and communal accountability, social justice and recognition and reciprocity. We discuss these values by offering case examples from African countries, mainly Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, where we come from.

Relationality: Examples from Uganda

Relationality can be interpreted at three levels. First, it is the blood relations that everyone carries and each person's responsibility within their family. The second is community relatedness and the third one is societal relations. Ubuntu acknowledges the importance of one's relations, emphasizing relationality between the individual, the family, the community, and the society. From an Afrocentric view, relationality is premised on a truth that all things exist in relatedness (Tynan, 2021). Hence, when all things exist in relatedness, as Tynan (2021, p. 601), suggests, “it is inconceivable that an entity, idea, or person could exist outside of this network, or be considered as “Other” to this system of relationality”.

Put simply, Africans thrive on the value of relational collectivity, which attends to the moral and spiritual consciousness of what it means to be a human and to be in a relationship with another and the environment (Maphalala, 2017). It is common for Africans to call each other brother or sister, uncle, or auntie even though they do not have a blood relationship (Chilisa, 2012). In the African culture, human relations (family and communal) always come first, and the individual is often embedded in the family they come from, which often includes the extended family, the clan, and the tribe.

In action, relationality is manifested through caring and love for one another, including the living and the dead (ancestors), as well as the human and non-human. This communal way of life encourages the development of society based on cooperative economics of sharing, not accumulating, of self-reliance, and independence (Maphalala, 2017). In Uganda and other African countries and Indigenous communities around the world, relationality in action can be seen through the totem ³ system whether these relationships be political, economic, cultural, spiritual, or environmental. A totem is an animal, plant, or bird that a clan has the responsibility to care for. A clan's totem should not be eaten or killed by a clan member because it represents that clan; it is part of the clan's identity and people can be referred to by their totem instead of their names.

The totem system is an indigenous system that centers relationality of humans with the environment from a non-anthropocentric and interconnected worldview (Chilisa, 2012; Tusasiirwe, 2023). It teaches humans about the feelings and needs to care for plants, animals, and birds. Clans and totems teach each clan member that there is something they are good at, something they can aspire for. African scholar Chilisa (2012) argues that clans and totems can be the first and last resort for Africans to go back to regain their confidence in who they are and what they know to decolonize minds and disrupt the deficit of colonial narratives. For example, people from the Enjovu (known as Ndlovu, Ndou, or Nzou in other communities) (Elephant) clan, are community people who care for and protect one another, as elephants do. The Mpologoma (also known as Ngonyama, Isilwane, Shumba or Simba in other communities) (lion) clan people are daring and as brave as a lion. These are just a few examples among the many. In central Uganda alone, there are over 52 clans with different totems they are expected to care for and preserve for present and future generations.

Love and connection underpin relationality and it is on the basis of love that people help and work together for the prosperity of the community, sharing and protecting each other from enemies. There is a common proverb among the Banyakitara people from Western Uganda that says, “Abangana tibakanya”, which literally translates as those who hate each other cannot multiply or thrive or prosper, espousing that a community that eats together, grows together. The implication of these proverbs is that being in relation with others is cherished while being isolated or being told to go and be alone is used as a high-level punishment for the wrongdoers in the community.

In Western Uganda, there are community self-organized mutual help groups where being in relation with others translates into a form of support during hard times like in grief and loss (Tusasiirwe, 2019). In burial aid groups, for example, one needs to be part of the community so that if, and when, they lose a family member, the community will be present to mourn, counsel and provide material support needed for the family to make sense of or recover from the loss. If a community member misbehaves, the whole community will have meetings to try and mend the relationship. When all fails, the community will agree to isolate the person, and what this means in practical terms is that in case of loss, no one is allowed to support the member, and there are penalties for those who disobey.

In rural areas where there are few professional social workers, communities become their own social workers, and existing in relationships with others becomes a way of life and is necessary for survival. There is a common maxim in Uganda that emphasizes the need for humans to focus on ubuntu and relationality instead of materialism. Waaba oyine obuntu, nibukuha abantu, abantu bakuha ebintu (when you have obuntu (Ubuntu), it gives you abantu (people or relations), and people or relations give you ebintu (material things). Hence, relationships can translate into wealth, capital, and spiritual things and, therefore, should be much more valued and established.

Collective responsibility and communal accountability: An example from Kenya

Togetherness (Umoja) and communal accountability (Ujamaa) are other important principles of Ubuntu. Ujamaa was promoted by Nyerere (1968), then President of Tanzania, who saw it as a cornerstone for the national development framework. For Nyerere, Ujamaa was more than an abstract philosophy; it was an operative principle that aimed to restructure Tanzania's society along the lines of African family structures (Nyerere, 1968). He positioned Ujamaa as a form of African socialism, a model that diverged from both capitalist and communist ideologies that were predominant during his time. His idea was to carve out a uniquely African path towards development, one that was entrenched in the shared values, traditions, and social structures of African societies (Nyerere, 1968). It propounds the belief that our humanity is mutually constitutive: “I am human because I belong, I participate, I share” (Tutu, 2000, p. 35). In the African culture, people see themselves as parts of one or more collectives (for example, family, clan, or tribe) and are motivated by their family or tribal collective norms and duties over their personal goals. In this way, Ubuntu encourages collective responsibility and collaboration amongst citizens, characterized by collectivism (Maphalala, 2017). For most community major tasks, people come together as a collective to make a task easier to accomplish, suggesting that love for one's community and tribe brings forth caring responsibility and accountability. This means, where there is accountability for one another, there is responsibility for one another's success and a responsibility to our environment and to maintain relations.

In Kenya, Harambee, a similar principle to Ujamaa operated for decades after independence in the Agikiyu community. Embodying a Swahili proverb, haba na haba hujaza kibababa (a little bit here and a little bit there fills the entire container), the spirit of Harambee suggests that when members of the community give the little that they have, they accomplish a bigger goal together, more quickly. The Harambee, a communal fund-raising strategy, represents the spirit of community responsibility as it brings together community members in support of common causes. Through Harambees, when individual parents could not afford college fees, the community contributed a coin here and a coin there, and eventually, many children were able to complete their high school or university education. In this way, many Agikuyu communities were able to pool resources together, transcending individual capacities and contributing to the common good (Blommaert, 2014). This communal labor exchange system fosters shared responsibility among community members, thereby reducing the burden of labor on individuals.

Ujamaa and Harambee illustrate Ubuntu as both a philosophy and a living practice, shaping socioeconomic interactions and promoting communal solidarity. In this way, Ubuntu fosters “horizontal respect,” where every individual, by virtue of their humanity, is entitled to respect from all others (Metz, 2011). Within this perspective, selfhood and identity are not solitary constructs but are linked to communal ties and collective relationships (Nabudere, 2005). The individual's existence, therefore, is predicated on the existence of the community, and likewise, the community thrives on the interconnectedness and contributions of its members. The focus here is on collective advancement, mutual support, and shared prosperity, reflecting an alternate worldview that challenges dominant individualistic paradigms (Mbiti, 1969).

Social justice: Examples from Nigeria

Social justice is another vital principle of Ubuntu. Ubuntu advances notions of freedom, independence, inclusion, equity, participation, and fairness (Letseka, 2014; Metz 2011). Central to Ubuntu is living in a socially just, truthful, and harmonious community (Agbo et al., 2019; Ngubane & Makua, 2021; Obika & Ojiakor, 2019), where there is freedom and independence from injustice. Ubuntu promotes equal opportunities and encourages fairness, truthfulness, communalism, and interdependence. This is reflected in the Igbo ⁴ Nigerian proverb: “Egbe belu ugo belu, nke si ibe ya ebena, nku kwapu ya” (Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch; whichever says that the other will not perch, let its wings break off). This proverb captures the totality of Igbo (Ndigbo) sense of justice and equal rights, which protects the poor from the rich and saves the weak from the strong (Agbo et al., 2019; Obika & Ojiakor, 2019).

For the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria, what is required for harmonious, peaceful coexistence is to have fairness (aka nkwumoto and ikpe nkwumoto) and truthfulness (eziokwu) which translates to “a hand that is clean,” just judgement, and truth in human relationships. Nkwumoto and eziokwu create conducive atmospheres for creativity and progress (Agbo et al., 2019; Obika & Ojiakor, 2019). In other words, for the Igbo society, justice means fairness and truthfulness (ikwuba aka oto, ikpe ziri ezi and eziokwu) in one's dealings with others. For them, eziokwu bu ndu, that is truth is life, it is sacred, it is sacrosanct. For them, justice is about fairness and truthful dealing between the man and woman in society or people in society. Fairness and truthfulness (not just equality and equity) are needed for the smooth flow of social activities and relationships. This worldview not only ensures equality and equity but also guarantees justice for the poor, the weak and the oppressed, giving everyone a level playing ground. It is also symbolized in the Igbo philosophy of “ibuanyindanda” around the indispensability of complementation in humans (Asouzu, 2011).

Ibuanyidanda (English equivalent is complementarity) recognizes inherent mutual dependence, human interdependence and the difficulty associated with the individual pursuit of a cause. According to Asouzu (2011), one cannot achieve much when one attempts to pursue a cause alone. As a philosophy for a more just and inclusive society, ibuanyindanda explains the complementary relationship entered by the community of Danda (insignificant ants) in the pursuit of a common purpose. Danda are tiny ants that have the capacity, in mutual dependence and interdependence, to carry loads that appear bigger and heavier than themselves. Given their small size, it is easy for them to be subdued and defeated if they operate individually in solving problems (Asouzu, 2011). However, the wisdom from danda is that they can surmount very difficult challenges when they work together through mutual dependence and complementation of their efforts in fairness, hence, Igbo insistence that no task is insurmountable for danda (ibuanyidanda).

Contrary to the Western philosophy of essence, which polarizes and absolutizes aspects of reality, ibuanyidanda philosophy shows how humans can relate to one another in a complementary, mutually harmonized, non-absolutistic way (Asouzu, 2011). The ontology of ibuanyidanda indicates that anything that exists serves as a missing link of reality and allows humans to relate to one another in fairness (aka nkwumoto and ikpe nkwumoto) and truthfulness (eziokwu) . In fact, ibuanyidanda seeks to harmonize, complement, and unify us, humans. It is for this reason that inclusive unity, fairness, and truthfulness (ikwuba aka oto, ikpe ziri ezi, and eziokwu) are great Ubuntu values commonly held in Igbo society and other African societies. Other elements of social justice, found in other communities of Africa include deterrence; returning and replacement; apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation; and warnings and punishments (retribution).

Recognition and reciprocity: Examples from Zimbabwe

Ubuntu places value in recognition through participation and interactions with others (Ngubane & Makua, 2021). Recognition is about acknowledging the existence of another person. The greeting salibonani in Zimbabwe (and other countries) means “we have seen each other, or I can see you”. Recognition, therefore, is an acknowledgement of someone before conversations can begin. Recognition is tied to reciprocity and social acceptance. Reciprocity is a continuous expectation of doing someone good, which mirrors an expectation to receive good from others. The key reciprocal aspect seen in African greetings is that someone cannot be well when another is not well. Therefore, reciprocity is more than the exchange of tangible things, but also about the non-tangibles as well, including social support. For example, the greeting below from the Shona culture could be the beginning of a counselling session or an opportunity to explore social problems.

Mhoroi (greeting words said by person 1 to person 2 with an exchange of handshake).

Makadii (person 1 asks “How are you?”).

Ndinofara kana muchifarawo (Person 2 says “I am well as long as you are well too”).

Ndinofara (Person 1 says “I am ok”) or Ndinofara hangu/Ndinofara zvishoma (“I am well but not really well/I am a little well”).

Another meaning of reciprocity is that the giver will not usually receive the favor themselves but someone else. Recognition and reciprocity are tied together; where there is recognition, reciprocity can happen, but where there is no recognition, reciprocity cannot occur. In many African communities, working together rotationally in farming and fishing is common, and this is called nhimbe or majana in the Shona language. Other examples from childcare and child raising are also evident where childcare is arranged organically such that there is always someone to look after a child when parents are not available. As for child raising, African parents provide needs for their children in the hope that one day it will be their children's role to take care of them. One of the several proverbs that foster this value is chirere chichazokurerawo mangwana (which means “the child will care for you tomorrow”). In Shona tradition, this proverb acknowledges the importance of parenting and intergenerational relationships. It helps anyone assigned a parental role to remember that a child could reciprocate and repay the care and nourishment they received from them. In doing so, the proverb uses the act of rearing a child in a more generic sense, which includes inculcating positive values in the child. In Southern Africa, there is also the concept of rotational savings schemes, mukando or stokvel in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Under Ubuntu values, these examples provide a social safety net for everyone in many communities of Africa.

Discussion and implications

In recent years, Indigenous knowledges and practices are changing how social work is researched, taught, and practiced. The incorporation of Ubuntu philosophy offers another element of our Indigenous inheritance that can make a significant contribution to decolonization in social work education, research, and practice. While there is still a huge gap in the use and application of Ubuntu in social work (van Breda, 2019), Ubuntu values and principles can amplify social workers’ efforts to combat injustice, dispossession, and colonization to bring about agency and liberation. When social workers understand and embrace Ubuntu, they are more likely to build positive relationships and challenge the inequity, injustices, and barriers within society (Ukpokodu, 2016), fostering the spirit of mutual support (Mbigi, 1997).

Embracing Ubuntu values and principles can help social workers improve education, research, and practice. For example, the Ubuntu value of relationality can transform social work's relationship in practice, research, and education from one of detached, hierarchical, expert-led to relational, non-anthropocentric ways of working and doing. For some scholars, the “rootedness of social work ethics in hegemonic liberal humanist discourses” is a poor fit with Indigenous, Asian, Arabic and African realities (Sewpaul & Henrickson, 2019, p. 1471). Thus, Ubuntu relational ethics adds to the voices of Indigenous, including Pacific, Arabic social workers calling for ways of disrupting colonial practices in social work to ways of working that center humanness and interconnection, providing an alternative to the conceptualization of rigid professional boundaries in social work relationships (Ravulo, 2019; Yassine, 2019).

In addition, Ubuntu's collective responsibility and communal accountability can remind social workers of the need to re-center downward accountability. Due to neoliberalism and the new public management system adopted in social work and human service professions, upward accountability to senior management or donors or managers/supervisors, board of directors, has been centered (Connell et al., 2009). However, Ubuntu values encourage social workers to center accountability around the community and service users and pursue social justice (aka nkwumoto) while relating to all in complementary, mutually harmonized (ibuanyidanda) non-absolutistic ways (Asouzu, 2011) towards the eradication of social problems impacting the communities and the environment.

Ubuntu philosophy could help inculcate humanness in the social work education curriculum to equip students with skills needed for service delivery to all clients at all levels. For example, the Ubuntu principle of recognition acknowledges not only the existence of another person but also that there is no single way of being, knowing and doing. It allows the teacher in the classroom to recognize other epistemologies and to “go beyond” Western literature and utilize all literatures, including orature that dominates collective and reciprocal communities in teaching and designing assessments. Recognition also means teachers, students, and practitioners caring and checking on one another frequently and providing a safe space to converse about what may or may not be going well in the classroom. Thus, Ubuntu-informed social work pedagogy creates a favorable learning environment among teachers and students regardless of their backgrounds (Maphalala, 2017; Ngubane & Makua, 2021).

As a pedagogical tool, Ubuntu has the potential to challenge the inequality in knowledge production and preserve indigenous knowledge systems (Le Grange, 2015), encouraging academics to create empowering learning environments (Ukpokodu, 2016). As Ngubane and Makua (2021) explain, Ubuntu pedagogy supports equal partnerships, co-existence, and co-creation of knowledge, whereby the Ubuntu maxim “a person is a person through other people” comes into full blossom in the classroom.

Values of reciprocity, hospitality, and care for everyone, including researchers and people or communities being researched can enhance social work research and practice. For researchers, reciprocity can be utilized as a framework to acknowledge the limitations of their own philosophies and recognize the contributions of other ways of knowing and doing. Researchers must take responsibility to ensure that they do not abuse the reciprocity and hospitality of research participants and to be accountable to them by ensuring that their research contributes to finding solutions for the problems that are important to the participants and their communities. In this way, reciprocity in research centers deep mutual care about others and the circumstances they are experiencing, acknowledging each human being has a dual responsibility for their own well-being and the well-being of others in the community (Tusasiirwe, 2023). Therefore, applying Ubuntu principles of deep care, reciprocity, and dual responsibility requires researchers in an ethos where the community, its well-being, and its knowledge base are centered.

Ubuntu offers an important framework in social work, providing principles that can engage with Western, Eastern, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Pacifica and Caribbean philosophies. Ubuntu, with its focus on community and collective well-being, challenges but also complements Western social work values of individual rights by promoting practices that recognize collective responsibility and balance individual and community needs. Ubuntu resonates with multiple frameworks across the globe. For example, Japanese values of wa (harmony) and amae (dependence) are grounded in Confucianism and Buddhism, which foster intergenerational solidarity and the development of community-based care models. Similarly, In India, Ubuntu values align with the principles of seva (selfless service) and dharma (duty) founded on Hinduism guide social work practice. By embracing Ubuntu, Bharatiya (Indian) social work can strengthen its focus on social justice and promote inclusive practices. Furthermore, Ubuntu's communal ethos complements the principles of zakat (charity) and ummah (community) in Islamic social work. By incorporating Ubuntu, Islamic social work can enhance its practices and efforts to address poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. In Latin America, the knowledge of buen vivir, which informs good living and reciprocal development without impacting the environment (Gerlach, 2019; Pulla, 2024), can benefit from incorporating the environmental aspects of Ubuntu.

While the recognition and use of Ubuntu and other Indigenous principles in social work practice has been slow due to the dominance of Western principles, it is now essential that social workers reflect on ways in which Ubuntu principles can be used and applied in education, research, and practice. In Western and non-African contexts, Ubuntu can be incorporated to foster collective responsibility, a sense of solidarity and interdependence, mutual respect, and care. Ubuntu-inspired education, research, and practice can promote a more inclusive and supportive society. Centering social work practice in Ubuntu, therefore, calls for a deepening understanding of how its values and principles can be adapted in practice contexts to strengthen existing teaching, research, and practice frameworks (Kumar & Welikala, 2021; Ukpokodu, 2016). Ubuntu can help social workers interpret problems and holistically think about their solutions. Hence, we argue that centering social work in Ubuntu values and principles will have the potential to enrich and strengthen social workers’ theories and practice in Indigenous knowledge (Ngubane & Makua, 2021) and commitment to decolonization (Udah, 2023).

Limitations of argument

This article focuses on one level of Ubuntu, the human aspect, without a detailed incorporation of two other important levels of Ubuntu, the ecological environment and the spiritual yet these are important in social work, too (ASWDNet, 2023). This is a deliberate decision to center the human within discussions provided here. We recommend future research work around these aspects. Another limitation is that a Western view and definition of social work has been relied upon, which places emphasis on the individual whereas a more developmental approach is being promoted for Africa and many other developing communities (Mupedziswa et al., 2019; Mwansa, 2011;). Another limitation is that some values of Ubuntu are found in other parts of the world, including among Indigenous societies in the Pacific, Americas and Asia who have communal, collective, and reciprocal values that are like or very close to Ubuntu. This makes delineating the contribution of Ubuntu in social work a bit harder, however, we have focused on the unique aspects of Ubuntu. Despite these limitations, the analysis has important implications for social work globally, particularly in the West.

Ubuntu, while emphasizing communal well-being and collective responsibility, has its limitations when addressing justice and fundamental human rights. For example, when South Africa achieved independence from colonization in 1994, Ubuntu was used as a guiding principle to maintain peace and foster reconciliation and justice. However, economic and land justice were ignored in favor of the more unity-centered aspects of Ubuntu (Holtzhausen, 2015; Mubecua & Wiseman Mbatha, 2021). Resultantly, the landlessness of colonized communities is yet to be resolved, and because of it, violence has been reported in South Africa (Mubecua & Wiseman Mbatha, 2021). Another example is that certain practices, such as domestic violence, female genital harm, “child labor”, forced and underage marriage, and the exclusion of individuals whose sexual choices differ from community norms, can further marginalize individuality, leading to tension with the United Nations notion of universal human rights, which is largely based on Western concepts of choice and freedom (Dube & Avitus, 2020). It could be said that while unity and collective well-being are important, they should not undermine the individual rights and protections of vulnerable groups.

Conclusion

Ubuntu is indigenous knowledge that can be used in social work around the world in promoting human rights and justice. Ubuntu knowledge is fundamental in humanizing and producing positive relational connections that inspire profound cultural and human dignity among social workers and their clients, including teachers, students, participants, and other stakeholders (Gatwiri, 2020). This article is a call to action on the use and integration of Ubuntu values and principles in social work. If given a chance, Ubuntu can make a significant contribution to social work education, research, and practice. Practising from Ubuntu principles of relationality, responsibility, and communal accountability; justice, recognition and reciprocity will not only humanize social work's diverse clientele but will empower and spark a change for the better (Ngubane & Makua, 2021). Also, in an Ubuntu-informed social work education, learning takes place through interactions and desire to support and nurture the student through a humane process (Gatwiri & Tusasiirwe, 2022). In this way classrooms, pedagogical, research and practice approaches need to be based on Ubuntu principles.

Ubuntu values and principles allow effective teaching and learning process to take place. This is because Ubuntu-informed education encourages the use of collaborative learning strategies to allow students work together in harmony, as equal human beings, develop and share knowledge and acquire life skills, through communication, cooperation, caring, respect and taking collective responsibility for one another's success, and, in the process build supportive network in the context of learning (Maphalala, 2017).

We conclude, strongly so, that Ubuntu provides the social work profession the opportunity to embrace an Indigenous philosophy from Africa. By embracing Ubuntu principles, social work practices across different cultural contexts can become more holistic, inclusive, and effective in addressing complex social issues. This implies that social workers and policymakers should give Ubuntu philosophy attention. There should be alternatives to Western perceptions of what should be incorporated into the profession of social work. Ubuntu values and principles offer an alternative and have the capacity to foster social justice, leaving social workers and policymakers, including teachers, researchers, and students with skills to decolonize their own practice, and commit to structural change and collective responsibility across the profession. However, it is important to adapt Ubuntu principles thoughtfully and respect cultural values and differences to avoid compromising its integrity. Also, its application should address specific issues and go beyond superficial adoption. Thus, there is a need to adapt Ubuntu values and principles and carefully apply them in non-African contexts in the professional practice of social workers around the world to promote collective well-being, human rights and justice. Hence, Ubuntu's principles can be meaningfully placed alongside other ideologies, knowledge, and theories that are used and taught in social work. Social workers seeking to develop decolonial forms of practice can turn to Ubuntu as a theory informing their practice. As viable principles for social work education, research and practice, Ubuntu can foster recognition, build positive relationships, encourage solidarity and cooperation, humanize clients and promote inclusion and social justice. Ubuntu can help social workers be more critical and take a holistic approach in analysing social problems and thinking about solutions.