Editing Ubuntu philosophy (section)

==History of the concept in African written sources==
Ubuntu has been in existence in [[Oral literature|orature (oral literature)]] and in the culture of Bantu peoples. It appeared in South African written sources from as early as the mid-19th century. Reported translations covered the [[semantic field]] of "human nature, humanness, humanity; virtue, goodness, kindness". Grammatically, the word combines the root ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/mʊ̀ntʊ̀|-ntʊ̀]]'' "person, human being" with the [[Zulu grammar#Nouns|class 14]] ''[[:wikt:ubu-|ubu-]]'' prefix forming [[abstract noun]]s,<ref>see also [[:wikt:Appendix:Zulu nouns#Noun classes|Zulu noun classes]] on [[Wiktionary]].</ref> so that the term is exactly parallel in formation to the abstract noun ''[[:wikt:humanity|humanity]]''.<ref>in the sense of an abstract quality. The sense "mankind" is taken by the class 7 collective noun ''[[:wikt:isintu|isintu]]''.</ref>

The concept was popularised in terms of a "[[philosophy]]" or "[[world view]]" (as opposed to a quality attributed to an individual) beginning in the 1950s, notably in the writings of [[Jordan Kush Ngubane]] published in the ''[[Drum (South African magazine)|African Drum]]'' magazine. From the 1970s, the ''ubuntu'' began to be described as a specific kind of "African humanism". Based on the context of [[Pan-Africanism|Africanisation]] propagated by the political thinkers in the 1960s period of [[decolonization|decolonisation]], ''ubuntu'' was used as a term for a specifically African (or Southern African) kind of humanism found in the context of the transition to majority rule in [[Zimbabwe]] and [[South Africa]].

The first publication dedicated to ''ubuntu'' as a philosophical concept appeared in 1980, ''Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy'' (''hunhu'' being the [[Shona languages|Shona]] equivalent of Nguni ''ubuntu'') by [[Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange]]. Hunhuism or Ubuntuism is presented as political ideology for the new Zimbabwe, as [[Southern Rhodesia]] attained independence from the United Kingdom.<ref name=Samkange1980/>

The concept was used in South Africa in the 1990s as a guiding ideal for the [[Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa|transition from apartheid to majority rule]]. The term appears in the Epilogue of the Interim Constitution of South Africa (1993): "there is a need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not for retaliation, a need for ''ubuntu'' but not for victimisation".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Christian B. N. Gade|url=http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/40165256/The_Historical_Development_of_the_Written_Discourses_on_Ubuntu.pdf |title=The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu|journal=South African Journal of Philosophy|volume= 30|issue=3|pages= 303–329|doi=10.4314/sajpem.v30i3.69578 |year=2011 |s2cid=143928483 }}</ref>

In South Africa, it has come to be used as a contested<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mboti |first1=Nyasha |title=May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up? |journal=Journal of Media Ethics |date=3 April 2015 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=125–147 |doi=10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380 |s2cid=53519937 |issn=2373-6992|url=http://osf.io/mgzw6/ |url-access=subscription }}</ref> term for a kind of [[humanism|humanist]] philosophy, ethic, or ideology, also known as '''Ubuntuism''' propagated in the [[Africanization|Africanisation]] (transition to majority rule) process of these countries during the 1980s and 1990s. New research has begun to question the exclusive "humanism" framing, and thus to suggest that ''ubuntu'' can have a "militaristic" angle – an ''ubuntu'' for warriors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chasi |first1=Colin |title=Ubuntu for Warriors |date=2021 |publisher=Africa World Press |location=Trenton, NJ |url=https://africaworldpressbooks.com/ubuntu-for-warriors-by-colin-chasi/}}</ref>

In Uganda the term is used in people's everyday language as a way to relate to one another and call for community. The term can also be used to criticize another's actions if one states that they have lost "Obuuntu" (their humanity).

Since the transition to democracy in South Africa with the [[Nelson Mandela]] presidency [[South African general election, 1994|in 1994]], the term has become more widely known outside of Southern Africa, notably popularised to English-language readers through the [[ubuntu theology]] of [[Desmond Tutu]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307|title=Get the Definition of Ubuntu, a Nguni Word with Several Meanings|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2017-08-28}}</ref> Tutu was the chairman of the South African [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC), and many have argued that ''ubuntu'' was a formative influence on the TRC.