Cosmopolitics of Regeneration: Rethinking Development Through African Relational Ontologies, Planetary Boundaries, and Sociotechnical Transitions

Abstract

Contemporary development models remain anchored in extractive epistemologies that privilege economic expansion, industrial accumulation, and the mastery of nature as the dominant measure of progress. Yet the global polycrisis—marked by climate instability, biodiversity collapse, deep inequalities, and sociopolitical fragmentation—exposes the profound limits of growth-centered paradigms. This article proposes a cosmopolitical framework for regenerative development rooted in African relational ontologies, planetary boundary science, and multi-level sociotechnical transition theory. Drawing from Ubuntu ethics, Bantu cosmologies, ecological theologies, and pluriversal thought, the article argues that regeneration rather than growth constitutes the emerging civilizational axis of the twenty-first century. By integrating insights from Earth system science, relational anthropology, and transition studies, the paper develops the concept of Relational Regeneration Systems (RRS)—institutional and infrastructural architectures that restore the vitality of socio-ecological systems while enhancing cultural meaning, community cohesion, and technological appropriateness. Empirical examples from African regenerative agriculture, hydrological commons governance, and digital innovation ecosystems demonstrate how relational ontologies generate alternative pathways for sociotechnical transformation. The framework elaborated here offers policymakers, scholars, and practitioners a pluriversal, ecologically grounded, and justice-oriented vision of development capable of navigating the unprecedented challenges of the Anthropocene.