Belonging in a Disrupted Environment

Belonging presupposes a certain stability within both individuals and environments to which belonging is claimed. This stability is absent for most individuals in Africa and the actual societies they belong to. The disintegration of communities and the inability of individuals to have stable identities can be traced to the damaging effects of the colonial project. Africa's postcolonial states have failed to shirk off the effects of colonialism and have suffered the influence of some of colonialism's undesirable but lasting effects. Two of these effects are damage to individuals and communities, leaving them with no sense of connection and a permanent state of paralysis of imagination of how responsible agency can create responsive communities that evoke an authentic sense of belonging. Such a condition can be guaranteed under individual integrity aimed at achieving dignity.