Title: Igùlwama
Subtitle: Contrasting African Epistemologies with Modern Western Political Thought
Subject Classification:  African Studies, Politics and Government, Global South Studies  
BIC Classification: JPS, HBTB, JPA
BISAC Classification: POL061000, POL011000, PHI034000
Binding: Hardback, eBook
Planned publication date: Mar 2027
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-80866-162-4
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-80866-163-1

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Description

"Igùlwama" is a comparative study that examines African epistemologies in relation to modern Western political thought, analysing how knowledge, authority, and political relations shape the constitution of the world. The book adopts an unconventional approach by focusing on the philosophical assumptions that make the world, subjects, and objects intelligible, rather than prioritising political institutions and their organisational roles. It contends that modern Western political thought increasingly structures these relations through materialist conceptual frameworks, with categorisation, appropriation, and property serving as central elements in its development.

Appropriation is examined not merely as the right to alienate objects, but as a dimension of agency through which subjects establish authority and hierarchical relations over other subjects and objects in modernity. Property is presented as a principal concept that institutionalises these relations in both domestic and International Politics. Consequently, knowledge production assumes a significant role, as the categories employed to interpret reality can reinforce the political structures that produce them.

In this regard, this study contrasts some foundational assumptions of modernity with African epistemologies, particularly Ndowe epistemology, to reconsider four central concepts: the subject, the civil society-state relationship, identity, and property. The aim is not to replace Western political thought with an African alternative, but to expose the limitations of its universalist claims and to explore alternative frameworks for understanding human relationships, political community, and the world.

Biography

Author(s):  Edjanga Jones is a Spanish political researcher, writer, and engineer of Equatoguinean descent. He earned a degree in Politics from UNED in 2016 and completed an MSc in Political Thought at SOAS University of London in 2025. He has published two novels and an academic book addressing political issues in Equatorial Guinea. His scholarship examines African politics, identity, and Ndowe epistemology, demonstrating a cosmopolitan perspective informed by both Spanish and African backgrounds.

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