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Methodological Decolonisation and Local Epistemologies in Business Ethics Research

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Abstract

This paper contributes to the discussion on methodological decolonisation in business ethics research by illustrating how local epistemologies can shape methodology. Historically, business ethics research has been dominated by Western methodologies, which have been argued to be restrictive and limit contextually relevant theorising in non-Western contexts. Over the past decade, scholarship has called for more diversity in research methods and epistemologies. This paper regards arguments founded along neatly divided universalist versus contextualised methodologies as a false dilemma. Instead, we explore how ubuntu, a sub-Saharan African epistemology, can contribute as a complementary epistemology and methodology to interpretivism when conducting business ethics research in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper discusses four aspects—research agenda, access, power relations, and context-sensitive methods—that highlight practical ways in which ubuntu epistemology, with its communitarian and relational underpinnings, can enhance business ethics research. We illustrate that methodological decolonisation can be achieved by fusing relevant elements of local epistemologies and methodologies and conventional methodologies to generate context-relevant research approaches.

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Notes

  1. Local here connotes self-organising principles (such as language, history, religion, and ecology) unique to a group of people, and not necessarily a geographical label (Okere et al., 2005).

  2. Local refers to a group that shares certain beliefs and expectations, and is not necessarily located in Africa, but can be.

  3. The language of the Xhosa, one of the official indigenous languages of South Africa.

  4. The commonly spoken language in Malawi.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Metz and Dr Atkinson for their insights in helping our exploration of both ubuntu and continental philosophy, as well as our reviewers for their constructive comments. Our thanks to the editor, Dr Scott Taylor, for support in shaping this manuscript through all its stages.

Funding

This study was supported by the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) for providing the scholarship for the doctoral programme on which this article is based.

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Author notes

  1. Anita Bosch

    Present address: Stellenbosch Business School, Stellenbosch University, P O Box 610, Bellville, 7535, South Africa

  2. Smaranda Boroş

    Present address: Vlerick Business School, Avenue du Boulevard 21, 1210, Brussels, Belgium

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stellenbosch Business School, Stellenbosch University, P O Box 610, Bellville, 7535, South Africa

    Obaa Akua Konadu-Osei & Smaranda Boroş

  2. Vlerick Business School, Avenue du Boulevard 21, 1210, Brussels, Belgium

    Obaa Akua Konadu-Osei & Anita Bosch

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Konadu-Osei, O.A., Boroş, S. & Bosch, A. Methodological Decolonisation and Local Epistemologies in Business Ethics Research. J Bus Ethics 186, 1–12 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05220-z

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