Institute · Doctrine · Method
Presenting Tuzafrika
An institute of thought, doctrine and action.
Who is Tuzafrika
Tuzafrika is an African institute of thought, doctrine and action, founded by Tuza Shema. It carries and develops an original doctrine, We-ism, and its practical method, the Method of We-ism. The institute's ambition is not to produce yet another discourse on solidarity, but to propose a philosophical refoundation of what it means to exist, and to draw from it a concrete method for governance, mediation and co-development — particularly in the context of the African Great Lakes region.
A response to a deadlock
The contemporary world oscillates between two failures. Radical individualism has produced unprecedented material abundance, coupled with a collapse of human connection — what the doctrine calls the Solitary Death. Uniform collectivism attempted to answer this by dissolving the person into the mass, at the cost of individual responsibility. We-ism does not propose a lukewarm synthesis between the two: it goes beyond them through a refoundation of what constitutes existence itself.
This formula reverses the Cartesian cogito: where Descartes makes solitary thought the criterion of existence, We-ism holds that a human being is only truly realised through useful relation to others.
"I am useful, therefore We are. We are, therefore I exist."
Three pillars, one doctrine
Useful-Existence
The individual is realised through usefulness rendered to others, not through withdrawal or accumulation.
Knot of Destinies
No neighbouring nation exists in isolation; destinies are technically and physically bound together.
Awakened Service
The daily method that translates the first two pillars into concrete action, breaking with top-down charity.
A method
The Method of We-ism
This doctrine is matched by a practical method, itself conceived as a mirror-reversal of Descartes' Discourse on the Method (1637). It is formulated as seven rules and unfolds through a seven-step process: Observe, Understand, Relate, Serve, Decide, Act, Improve.
Three scales, thirty domains
This doctrinal architecture unfolds across three scales: micro (the individual and their daily choices), meso (regional geopolitics, particularly the Great Lakes region), and macro (the planetary scale). It runs through thirty concrete spheres of application, organised into three circles: the Intimate and Relational Circle, the Socio-Economic and Material Circle, and the Systemic and Civic Circle.
An assumed lineage
We-ism claims roots in several traditions: Ubuntu ("Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu" — "A person is a person through other persons"), the ancient Egyptian concept of Ma'at, Pan-Africanism, and the South African experience of post-apartheid reconciliation. The institute also situates its thought in critical dialogue with classical voices such as Thomas Aquinas, and with contemporary philosophers such as Hannah Arendt, Martha Nussbaum, Simone Weil, Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler.
The overall architecture
- Tuzafrika
- Institute — the structure that carries, produces and disseminates the doctrine
- We-ism
- Doctrine — Useful-Existence, the Knot of Destinies, Awakened Service
- Method of We-ism
- Method — seven rules, seven steps
- Art of We
- Practice — the daily exercise of the doctrine
- Think → Train → Serve → Act
- Path — the individual's path of engagement
- Governance · Mediation · Co-development
- Applications — where the doctrine is exercised concretely
Four paths of engagement
Engagement with the institute is structured around four paths, conceived as institutional functions rather than ranks.
Companion
Participation — engaging in the process and discovering the Art of We.
Ambassador
Transmission — making We-ism's principles known and passing them on.
Builder
Contribution — contributing to the Institute's projects, resources and development.
Circle
Practice — creating or joining a space where the principles are put into practice.
One goal: the Civilisation of We
The whole — Tuzafrika as an institute, We-ism as a doctrine, the Method of We-ism as a method, and these four paths as a way in — aims at what the institute calls the Civilisation of We: a horizon where cooperation becomes stronger than individualism.
Going further
- The three pillars — the doctrine in detail.
- The Method of We-ism — the complete method.
- The sources of We-ism — the doctrine's intellectual roots.
- We-ism in practice — the thirty domains of application.
- Become a Companion — the first step to joining the institute.