Thank you for visiting the Ujamaa Centre for Community Development and Research website.  We are delighted to have you as our guest so that we can share our work with you. For over twenty-five years Ujamaa has served as a community engagement project of the School of Theology, with its core-business being the reading of the Bible and doing Theology with communities of the poor for social transformation, development and research. Being part of an institution whose vision is to be ”a premier institution for African scholarship” has meant that we commit ourselves to engage in dialogue with ordinary people in the process of knowledge production and its dissemination. This is undergirded by our belief in the epistemological privilege of those from the underside of society. We believe that the production of knowledge is not the monopoly of those in institutions of higher learning and corridors of power. As a result over the years Ujamaa has been conducting contextual Bible studies, seminars, workshops and lectures on issues embedded in its five-fold theologies: Public Theology, People’s Theology, Body Theology, Bread Theology, and Earth Theology.

 

At the heart of our work is the Contextual Bible Study Method, which has become the trademark of our organization. Contextual Bible Study plays a central role in our two ‘campaigns’, the Tamar Campaign and the Redemptive Masculinities Campaign, which have been recognized as significant contributions in the struggle for gender justice and equality around the world. We continue to make a tremendous contribution in the struggle for democracy and good governance in the continent through our work in Public Theology, which undergirds the work of our Religion and Governance Programme. We do extensive work on issues of human sexuality and gender justice through the Body Theology project, which also includes work on HIV, disability, and masculinity. Currently we are developing work around New Religious Movements under the People’s Theology project. Our aim is to reflect on the factors and dynamics behind the growth of a broad range of African Initiated Churches, Healing Ministries and the charismatic movement.  At the core of our work is a commitment to economic justice and worker-led theologies of work as part of our Bread Theology project. We make a clear connection between land issues and ecological issues in our Earth Theology project. Indeed, the indivisibility of justice is what unites and connects all five areas of focus. We would like to invite you to join us by doing your research work in partnership with Ujamaa in any of the above themes. Our Centre will be happy to host you at UKZN, for research, seminars, workshops etc.

 

 

 

Prof. R Simangaliso Kumalo

 

Thank you for visiting the Ujamaa Centre for Community Development and Research website.  We are delighted to have you as our guest so that we can share our work with you. For over twenty-five years Ujamaa has served as a community engagement project of the School of Theology, with its core-business being the reading of the Bible and doing Theology with communities of the poor for social transformation, development and research. Being part of an institution whose vision is to be ”a premier institution for African scholarship” has meant that we commit ourselves to engage in dialogue with ordinary people in the process of knowledge production and its dissemination. This is undergirded by our belief in the epistemological privilege of those from the underside of society. We believe that the production of knowledge is not the monopoly of those in institutions of higher learning and corridors of power. As a result over the years Ujamaa has been conducting contextual Bible studies, seminars, workshops and lectures on issues embedded in its five-fold theologies: Public Theology, People’s Theology, Body Theology, Bread Theology, and Earth Theology.

 

At the heart of our work is the Contextual Bible Study Method, which has become the trademark of our organization. Contextual Bible Study plays a central role in our two ‘campaigns’, the Tamar Campaign and the Redemptive Masculinities Campaign, which have been recognized as significant contributions in the struggle for gender justice and equality around the world. We continue to make a tremendous contribution in the struggle for democracy and good governance in the continent through our work in Public Theology, which undergirds the work of our Religion and Governance Programme. We do extensive work on issues of human sexuality and gender justice through the Body Theology project, which also includes work on HIV, disability, and masculinity. Currently we are developing work around New Religious Movements under the People’s Theology project. Our aim is to reflect on the factors and dynamics behind the growth of a broad range of African Initiated Churches, Healing Ministries and the charismatic movement.  At the core of our work is a commitment to economic justice and worker-led theologies of work as part of our Bread Theology project. We make a clear connection between land issues and ecological issues in our Earth Theology project. Indeed, the indivisibility of justice is what unites and connects all five areas of focus. We would like to invite you to join us by doing your research work in partnership with Ujamaa in any of the above themes. Our Centre will be happy to host you at UKZN, for research, seminars, workshops etc.

 

 

 

Prof. R Simangaliso Kumalo