The Concept of Community in African Cosmogony: Analyzing Its Implications for 21st Century Global World Order

Abstract

This paper explores the African concept of community through the lens of cosmogony, positioning it as a critical philosophical and ethical framework for reimagining global cooperation, sustainability, and peace in the 21st-century world order. The data that was used to advance this argument was generated from secondary sources. The data was analyze using the discuss analysis. It foregrounds the unique relational ontology embedded in African traditions marked by communal interconnectedness, ancestral reverence, and harmony with nature and contrasts these with the dominant paradigms of Western individualism and liberal modernity. Drawing on recent scholarly engagements with African philosophy, postcolonial thought, and global ethics, the paper interrogates the limitations of current hegemonic structures while proposing African communalism as a viable model for addressing contemporary crises such as inequality, environmental degradation, migration, and fractured global solidarities. By highlighting case studies like Rwanda’s post-genocide reconciliation through ubuntu and ecological justice among Kenya’s Ogiek community, the work affirms the relevance of indigenous African worldviews in shaping a more inclusive, pluriversal global order.