international conference on migration in africa_opening address_prof b o'connell

UWC Institution for Social Development

andThe Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa

MIGRATION IN AFRICA

3 December 2014

Caravel

Conquistador Decimation 1492 AD

Africa: The Cradle of Humankind?

Adam and Eve?

Us?

Across Mediterranean To China Cultures Deeply Challenged

Ways of Knowing• Science (experimental approach to the physical universe) • Philosophy (the abstract mind) • Rational/Scepticism (not accepting realities that are not

immediately evident) • Religion (faith in divine revelation and social tradition)• Mysticism (experiences based on spiritual techniques)• Esotericism (intuitive speculation on cosmological world-

views) • Occultism (using psycho-physical techniques to access

hidden realities) • Gnosis (innate wisdom and understanding)

THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE

Humankind’s Great Intellectual Leaps

• Classical antiquity• Renaissance• Agricultural revolution• Scientific revolution• Industrial revolution• Digital Revolution/Technological Revolution

Dalin’s 10 Revolutions • 1. The knowledge and information revolution• 2. The population explosion• 3. Globalisation• 4. The economic revolution• 5. The technological revolution• 6. The ecological revolution• 7. The social/cultural revolution• 8. The aesthetic revolution• 9. The political revolution• 10. The values revolution.

Looking Ahead

Dennis Meadows

Water Scarcity 2025

HUMANKIND’S

Majestic Quest

7

6

3

2

1

5

4

Service

Internal Cohesion

Transformation

Making a Difference

Stage 1: Personal MasteryDevelopment of a healthy

positive ego Need to overcome

deficiency perspectiveSurvival

Relationship

Self-Esteem

The I in relation to the We

Stage 2: Internal CohesionFinding meaning in existence

Balancing self-interest with group interest

Stage 3: External CohesionServing humanity and the planet

Collaborating with partners

7 LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

BarrettBarrett

Our Record Under Stress Not Good

When populations grow and food is scarce and drinking water is scarce and energy is scarce and housing is scarce and jobs are scarce and money is scarce and medical attention is scarce and land is scarce we humans have consistently descended into barbarism.

Xenophobia Attacks in Gauteng

How Will We Behave?