Nelson Mandela: a reader on Infomation Ethics

Description

Editors: Coetzee Bester, Johannes Britz, Rafael Capurro and Rachel Fischer

The idea for the Nelson Mandela Reader arose during the International Policy Dialogue on IFAP Priority Areas focused on BRICS conference held in Cape Town on July 4-6, 2018. The conference participants visited Robben Island, the prison site of former South African president Nelson Mandela. The tour guide recapitulated Mandela’s life and struggle for freedom in South Africa as well as the common political goals of both Mandela and his predecessor, Frederik Willem de Klerk, to overcome apartheid.

The confluence of South African history culminating in Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, is not unlike similar situations in other societies and can be reflected on to provide a sense of orientation in 'language struggles' that are at the same time political, economic and, last but not least, cultural. Among the manifest topics in Mandela's biography is the question of perspective. Perspective provided a thread of unity to Mandela's life and to his reflection thereon. His perspective brings to light issues of (in-) human information and communication as addressed before, during and after the time of his imprisonment. It outlines the history of his country and continent as a struggle against what can be called information and communication apartheid.

Issues of apartheid extend beyond South Africa, as Mandela himself was well aware. Upon reflecting on the historical situation of apartheid South Africa, Mandela envisioned a universal solution out of the unique historical and cultural background.

This Reader contains 12 essays who reflect on the life and contribution of Nelson Mandela, through the lens of Information Ethics.