Frequently overlooked in the search of knowing and acting wisely are some important philosophical and cultural ideas and questions. The kpim of Social Order boldly captures such ideas and questions for awareness through critical thinking. The current volume in the Kpim Book Series makes the point that for a systematic analysis and significance of Social Order to be attained, we need to ask, What is the kpim or central core of Social Order of things? Where does the deepest layer, notion, symbolism, reality and application of social order, programs, human rights, institutions, communities, diplomacy, uprising, social asset, social power, policy action, inter-culturalism, global forces and all else lie? How can we reach and understand the innermost part of Social Order in the modern world? By gathering articles from seasoned, experienced, and emerged scholars from various backgrounds, the book explores deep-rooted questions touching on African context and related societies. The refreshing perspectives, analyses, deep reflections, vigorous arguments, and representations shown by the essays are distinctive and have been referred to as a comprehensive reader in the season of inquiry, meaning and significance of social order in the contemporary time. This is a book no one should ignore. Students, scholars, researchers, universities, colleges, educationists, institutions, policy makers, governments, legislatures, agencies, labour unions, civil society organizations, occupy movements, religious groups, entrepreneurs and the general public will find this book as an asset and a must read. The kpim of Social Order is therefore written out of the critical need to fill the gap for a decisive knowledge society in the modern world.

Kpim of Environment is a superb book crafted from assembled and peer-reviewed articles focusing on the fundamental issues that build, sustain or degrade the environment. There is no doubt, the modern world is seriously faced with diverse challenges, especially that of having a healthy environment. What is it that causes the environment to become a threat? The focus of this book is to interrogate what ought to be the core issue(s) and expectations of making our environment, our world, a better and safer place in the contemporary time or in the era of global heating. Established scholars have explored the various aspects of the complex environment in development and highlighted what the underlying issues are through integral reflection, intersectionality, theory and practice – resilience and sustainability – in the changing world. By working out the issues in their fields of specialization and interest, the authors very insightfully offered instances and strategies to manage the environment in ways that will allow faith, reason and action in discerning policy and outcomes of environmental intelligence and care. The unique voices of the authors are not only revealing, but also irresistible to be ignored on the question of reason, faith and environment. You will discover how philosophical, theological and applied scientific knowledge crisscrossed the weaving of the essays together to strike a meaningful outcome. The book is organized in three sections with running chapters for each article, including a book review on cutting to die, resilience and general conclusion. By scrutinizing the meaning of environment for adaptation and growth through technology, reason and faith, this book offers a glimpse and in-depth analysis of what the competing issues are – and will keep readers and systematic policy work busy for many years ahead.

The idea behind The Kpim of Feminism was rooted in the mind of Fada Iroegbu in 2004 following a friendly but heated argument he had with Mrs.Wioletta Ukagba (the wife of one of the current co-editors of this book) who challenged Fada Iroegbu to direct his sharp brain and pen to the defence of women, especially the Nigeria women, who were and still are passing through various kinds of trans-valuation of values, economic exploitation, cultural and scientific manipulations, political marginalization and irredentism and various shades of sexualisation, harassment, exploitation, and commercialization. Fada Iroegbu took up this challenge to kpiminize womanhood, but unfortunately was unable to completely realise his dream before death struck. As it is with many great and indefatigable minds or thinkers who left behind unfinished works, we, his friends, family, interlocutors, well-wishers, men and women of good will, have come together to actualize one of his felt knowledge dreams. The fight for equality between women and men can sometimes not only be exaggerated but also plunged in controversy we cannot fathom The search for the truth about the relationship that ought to exist between male and female should constitute The Kpim of Feminism Dr. George Uzoma Ukagba, Editor, University of Benin In light of the word feminism conjuring up different images to different people, The Kpim of Feminism reflects the sensitivity and objectivity to the concept of feminism by scholars drawing from their fields and life experiences The book insists that women and men be encouraged to emancipate and empower one another together. Dr. Obioma Des-Obi, Editor, Imo State University The Kpim of Feminism, a rare harvest of academic erudition from across the globe, showcases the different modalities from which issues, theories and debates on feminism and other gender-related polemics, past, present and future, could be considered. Dr. Iks J. Nwankwor, Editor, University of Uyo Without mincing words, this book is a welcome intellectual assembly and has come out at the right time with deep critical insights and values for students, researchers, and public and policy issues in both local and global prospects. Patrick Iroegbu, Ph.D., The Kpim Book Project Series Coordinator, Father Pantaleon-Iroegbu Foundation, Grant MacEwan University

Drawing on examples from across the continent, this volume examines socially significant aspects of contemporary African popular culture—including music cultures, fandoms, and community, mass, and digital media—to demonstrate how neoliberal politics and market forces shape the cultural landscape and vice versa. Contributors investigate the role that the media, politicians, and corporate interests play in shaping that landscape, highlight the crucial role of the African people in the production and circulation of popular culture more broadly, and, furthermore, demonstrate how popular culture can be used as a tool to resist oppressive regimes and challenge power structures in the African context. Scholars of political communication, cultural studies, and African studies will find this book particularly useful.

Ubuntu is an African philosophical tradition that embodies the ability of one human being to empathize with another. It is the quintessence of African humanism, communalism, and belonging. As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu anticipated, Ubuntu resonated with the moral intuition of the majority of black South Africans in the 1990s. As a result, it became the foundational ethical basis for articulating a new post-apartheid era of reconciliation and forgiveness in the face of a history marked by brutal racial violence. Yet Ubuntu, as a philosophy or ethical practice which has arguably come to represent African humanism and communalism, has not been sufficiently assimilated into contemporary philosophical scholarship. This anthology weaves interdisciplinary perspectives into the discourse on African relational ethics in dialogue with Western normative ideals across a wide range of issues, including justice, sustainable development, musical culture, journalism, and peace. It explains the philosophy of Ubuntu to both African and non-African scholars. Comprehensively written, this book will appeal to a broad audience of academic and non-academic readers.

This insightful book is the first edited book volume in the literature to concern itself, primarily, with the question of life’s meaning from the, largely under-explored, African perspective. In this collection, the authors have undertaken to answer this question, and other related questions, by showing some of the possible conceptions of life’s meaning that can be derived from traditional African perspectives. African Perspectives to the Question of Life's Meaning will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of philosophy, African studies, psychology, and religion. This book was originally published as a special issue of South African Journal of Philosophy.

In the face of the emerging consequences of anthropogenic activities in relation to the environment, Africa is today united by the consciousness that individual destinies are caught up with the health of natural systems at the national, regional and continental levels. This Book of Readings on African Ecological Spirituality: Perspectives in Anthroposophy and Environmentalism focuses on scholarly and indigenous perspectives regarding the evolution of eco-spirituality in Africa. It provides answers to fundamental questions that have been looming at the horizon of thought for years on the contribution of African spirituality to ecological discourse.

As Christianity in Africa is witnessing an unprecedented growth in membership, the author argues that in order to sustain its momentous growth and deepen the faith particularly among Catholics, the Church needs to acculturate an African model that resonates with Africans’ religiosity, cultural consciousness and worldview. The author contends that the model of the Church as the Extended family of God is best suited for an African ecclesiology and deepening the faith of African Christians.

The dynamic nature of Christianity has necessitated its movement from the cathedral to the mountain top. This has occasioned a proliferation of Prayer Mountains throughout Africa. In Yorubaland of southwestern Nigeria, Prayer Mountain is known as Ori-Oke. Like many communities in Africa, the Yoruba are confronted with fundamental challenges in life for which people do not rest until they find solutions. Within the praxis of Nigerian Christian lexicon Ori-Oke is synonymous with the enactment of a sacred space on a mountain top characterised by various prayer regimes, rituals, exorcism and religious practices, aimed at eliciting the help of the divine to alleviate the existential challenges of devotees. This book explores the resacralisation of space on the mountains, highlighting how humans and the divine interact in Yorubaland. It brings into conversation 35 empirically rich scholarly essays on the role of Ori-Oke to those seeking divine intervention in their lives. Today, Ori-Oke have become centres of pilgrimage as a result of the lived experiences of devotees, creating unique religious value quite distinct from the aesthetic value of these mountain tops. The spirituality of Ori-Oke is anchored on the absolute belief in God and the infusion of traditional African worldview sensibilities in religious rites and worship. Ori-Oke spirituality employs resources of Christian tradition, introduced by the formal agents of Christianity, synthesised with traditional culture, to develop a life based on the precepts of an African Christianity. The book is an intellectual discourse on Ori-Oke spirituality, reflecting its contemporary relevance in a context of religious innovation and competition.