Exploring the Para-Pragmatic in Rethinking Systems Change with Prof. Bayo Akomolafe
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Over an intimate evening conversation - a seminar-soiree as it was delightfully named.
Hosted by Profs Laura Pereira and Geci Karuri-Sebina, Prof. Bayo Akomolafe engaged with 20 invited guests to delve into hiss emerging concept of "the para-pragmatic" within the context of rethinking systems change.
The concept of the para-pragmatic was described as the “uneasy nutshell” that holds the ancestral, the philosophical, and the spiritual. Rather than advocating for thinking outside the box, para-pragmatism is about transforming thought itself and “stepping over the logic to find other possibilities.” It invites us to recognise a world that is much more active and surprising than we imagine.
“We tend to think that the thing to do in response to trouble, in the face of an incoming tsunami, at the edges of ruin… is to try as much as possible to "be pragmatic." ... Pragmatism is an ideology, albeit one that smooths over trouble, flattens contradiction, and disciplines possibility.” ”How to be available now” - Bayo Akomolafe, 15 June 2025
The dominant framework of pragmatism, which often suggests that meaningful action is clear, straightforward and guaranteed – where the autoresponse that “the thing to do about Gaza is call your legislator, or the thing to do about climate change and environmental degradation is recycle” was questioned. Prof Bayo instead suggested that action is no less risky, emerging within territories that tend to reproduce themselves, regardless of our intentions. Pragmatism narrows our understanding of the world, excluding alternative modes of being and acting - including, but not only, not acting. As a result, being pragmatic might create conditions for the worsening of our lives - “what if the way we respond to the crisis is part of the crisis”, Prof Bayo asked?
This inquiry is not intended to critique action, but rather to call attention to its political and ideological nature. Para-pragmatism reminds us that “there are other things in the room, if only we knew how to access them.” It calls us to sit with the trouble and resist the urge to rush toward resolution, remaining open to deeper, slower transformations. “Times are urgent, we must slow down” is a frequent refrain in Prof Bayo’s writings.
Guests reflected on key tensions, including the urgency to act versus the need to slow down to avoid unintended consequences; the rethinking of nature not as something separate from humans, but as something we are deeply entangled with; and the importance of elevating African rationality in the pursuit of equity and justice.
Thank you to our speaker, Prof. Bayo Akomolafe, as well as our honored guests: Amy Mutua, Ayanda Bendile, Colleta Gandidzanwa, Diran Soumonni, Geoffrey Bickford, Gwinyai Taruvinga, Hannelie Coetzee, Hello Sebina, Koogan Pillay, Laura Peña Zanatta, Lesley Masemene, Maureen Bosch, Mmabatho Montse, Odirilwe Selomane, Shanti Naidoo-Pagé, Stacey-Leigh Joseph and Yewande Omotoso.