Beyond ubuntu and decoloniality : toward a precarity-based African existentialist mobility framework

Abstract

This article is conceived against the background of value systems that seek to understand and represent African reality vis-à-vis African migration. The two major systems of thought to be evaluated against the realities of migration are ubuntu and decoloniality. I seek to suggest that while these theories seek to account for experiences in modern Africa, there is a possible system of thought that may comprehensively capture African reality. Precarity, as a system of thought, speaks most directly to African reality as well as the motivating factors behind some of the characteristics of African migration. The argument for this position will be made against the migrant youth we interviewed in Johannesburg. In addition, I will seek to show that religious belonging plays a fundamental role in the formation of identity and a sense of belonging among migrant youths.