The Centre for Philosophy in Africa, Nelson Mandela University (NMU) held an International Workshop and academic exchange engagement featuring academic visitors from the University of Giessen and University of Oldenburg.
The Centre for Philosophy in Africa, Nelson Mandela University (NMU) held an International Workshop and academic exchange engagement on Thursday, 13 March 2025. The talks, which was attended by postgraduate students across a variety of discipline in the Faculty of Humanities, took place the Business School Auditorium, featuring four scholars: Prof. Regina Kreide (University of Giessen), Prof. Jörn Ahrens (University of Giessen) and Prof. Tilo Wesche (The University of Oldenburg), and Dr Mitterand Okorie (Nelson Mandela University).
Consequent to the workshop’s theme, New Trends in Social and Political Theory: Digitization, Politics and the Anthropocene, the talks evaluated emerging trends in social and political theory that are traceable to the emergence of new technologies. Specifically, the presentations addressed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on the public sphere, its implication for digital colonization, and what these means for the future of nations and nature.
Presenting the first talk of the day, Prof. Kreide explored the implications of AI on democracy and evaluated the insidious manifestation of AI bots and their attendant capacity to create distractions, disinformation and “noise” in the public sphere. Dissecting a range of questions, Kreide broadly interrogated the language of AI programmes, what they do, and the uncertainties of dealing with programmes that simulate being a human being while acting in the interest of particular humans or groups. AI, in her assessment was moving human society more towards autocracy than democracy. Speaking next, Prof. Wesche’s talk ‘Digital Colonialism’ delved into the economic inequalities inherent in ownership, production and consumption of digital media and systems. Drawing from philosophical concepts of ownership, Wesche argues that whoever generates material value owns it. Precisely, digital infrastructures should be under democratic control which should be exercised collectively through democratic procedures. Prof. Ahrens discussed the emergence of a third nature, and explored the challenges and contradictions arising from the commodification of nature. Presenting the final talk for the day, Dr Okorie explored how the geopolitics of information in the age of AI and digital media compels us to recentre the state in the debate on how postcolonial nations can escape malign foreign influence.
Discussions on exchange opportunities for postgraduate students
The second segment of the event involved discussions on exchange opportunities for postgraduate students of NMU. The international guests opened the engagement by providing extensive details about their universities, as well as their respective research areas. There were also individual introductions by all doctoral and masters’ students present. Subsequently, the international guests broke into separate stands and entertained myriad questions from students, the exchange opportunities available and how to proceed with application plans. The Head of Centre, Professor Uchenna Okeja, who followed proceedings online offered concluding remarks and thanked the international guests and everyone who was part of the occasion.
Contact information
Lavita Nuvunga (Administrator, Centre for Philosophy in Africa)
lavita.nuvunga@mandela.ac.za