African Feminist Research Articles

Common/wealth: Contested commons and proleptic critique

In May 1917, two South African feminist friends and critics of empire then in London sent a telegram to Field Marshal Jan Smuts, the Union of South Africa’s Defence Minister and delegate to the Imperial War Cabinet, in response to his early proposal for a Commonwealth of Nations. It read simply: “Your speech was fine”. Whether intended sincerely (as in “very fine”) or as faint praise (“fine as far as it goes, but”) is not known, but the ambiguity is fitting for an association and description with such contested associations – and one that, by some accounts, originated in the colonies (from an idea proposed by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and South Africa’s then-Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog). It is fitting, too, that one of the cable’s authors was Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), leading novelist of the “New Woman”, advocate of sex equality, and clear-sighted critic of empire’s presumptions, rapacious designs, and gendered and ethnic biases, as well as of the race politics taking shape in South Africa at the start of the twentieth century. Even as we read Schreiner’s work today with an eye to its own prejudices and contradictions, this essay contends that it is worth considering the value of the proleptic critique it embodies for an understanding of the ongoing limitations — but also use-value — of the term “Commonwealth”, as well as of any term that might replace it. The outlines of Schreiner’s critique suggest that the term might yet encode a counter-ideal that points to an ongoing latent potential for the common to be reactivated as promise of a more equal and just division of empire’s spoils.

EXPOSURE TO ANOTHER CULTURE: SHAPING THE SELF OF THE SUBALTERN IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S KEHINDE

The aim of this study is to defamiliarize Gayatri Spivak’s pessimistic approach regarding the condition of the subaltern as a female subject. Spivak’s subaltern, misrepresented by the male-dominated West and the male-dominated East and therefore not belonging to any particular social group, has no history and cannot speak for herself. The position of the subaltern woman is examined based on Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde (1994), which deals with the circular migration of the eponymous character – Kehinde – from Nigeria to England, back to Nigeria and then back to England. The novel explores the binary between the self and the other of the subaltern woman in relation to the native and host cultures. To this end, the study uses several postcolonial concepts by Homi K. Bhabha, discussed at length in his book The Location of Culture (1994), such as mimicry, liminality, appropriation, and ambivalence, which, in its turn, conceptualises the position of the Nigerian subaltern woman in relation to cultural difference. The study foregrounds the validity of the popular woman theory known as African feminism, which specifically addresses the situation of African women. This approach also makes it possible to redefine the traditional concept of femininity in Nigerian culture. The study shows how cultural difference affects the growing consciousness of the subaltern woman, which ultimately helps her to become an independent person. The study concludes that, unlike Spivak’s subaltern, the Nigerian subaltern creates her own space from which she can speak for herself in the male-dominated society.

Kontinuitas tradisi breast ironing dalam komunitas imigran Kamerun di Inggris

The practice of breast ironing is one of many traditions in the world whose practice is based on the mindset that women's sexuality is something that must be controlled. This paper is intended to answer the question that is central to the author's research, namely: "Why do African immigrant communities in the UK continue the tradition of breast ironing when it is so risky?" To understand the context underlying the beliefs and practices of African immigrant women in the UK, the author adopts the ideas of Black African Feminism (BAF) by A La Awa Thiam. BAF argues that the history of colonialism has influenced the reinforcement of patriarchal ideologies and gender dynamics in Africa. BAF seeks to raise issues related to family life such as domestic violence, FGM, early marriage, polygamy, women's reproductive rights, women's inheritance rights, and HIV/AIDS. The continuity of the breast ironing tradition in the Cameroonian immigrant community in the UK is influenced by the socio-cultural context embedded in the community and the unsuccessful cultural adaptation that occurs between the minority community (Cameroonian immigrants) and the dominant community (local community). The efforts that can be made to stop this tradition are to build awareness within the community itself, in this case, the role of civil society organizations and NGOs is crucial.

Women and Power in Zimbabwe: The Need for Feminist Approaches in Considerations of Political Elites

Women politicians in Africa often find themselves in precarious positions as they negotiate their place in men-dominated environments. Their positions are further complicated because political power remains weakly institutionalised in most parts of Africa and highly dependent on informal links between individuals/groups and their respective networks. Given this, this paper looks at both formal and informal networks and relationships, as shaped by local political culture and contexts, to advance the search for a way to provide a more reliable picture of the realities of women politicians within the African context. It advances the elite theory by demonstrating how a feminist approach helps provide a way of understanding political elites that accounts for contextualised gendered power dynamics and experiences. It does so using Zimbabwe’s Joice Mujuru as a case study. The paper combines an African feminist approach and discourse analysis to trace the various debates and discourses around Joice Mujuru’s power to influence policies and decisions, her reputation, and her precarious position in Zimbabwe’s men-dominated political spaces. The paper concludes that a feminist perspective in considerations of political elites helps to better comprehend how various political cultures and contexts shape the understanding of women’s roles and positions in political groups and networks and their relationship to power centres. Such comprehension can shed light on contextual factors to take into account when considering effective ways of promoting women’s political leadership. Ultimately, the paper proposes an African feminist method to help create a path to further explorations of African elite groups and networks in gender-sensitive and context-based ways.

Scoping review of discourses on masturbation in Africa: an afrofeminist analysis

ABSTRACT Masturbation – self-sexual stimulation of the genitalia – literature is underdeveloped, especially in terms of non-Western samples. More importantly, there remains very little or no research about how masturbation as a sexual practice contributes to understanding the gender dynamics of sexual choices in Africa. Using the African feminist resistance framework of ‘radical rudeness’, developed by the Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi, this paper, through a scoping review of twenty-five studies, aims to review and synthesise the literature on masturbation discourse by identifying the socio-demographic dynamics of masturbators, their understanding of masturbation and its rationale, and the agentic and innovative ways of masturbation as reflected in existing works. The author argues that masturbation offers a space to experience one’s own sexual pleasure, as they push for a conceptually nuanced viewpoint about African sex. The analysis thus makes a clarion call to rethink the sex discourse in order to better appreciate and promote the sexual diversity of Africa.

Speaking out, talking back? African feminist politics and decolonial poetics of knowing, organising and loving

This piece reviews the ‘Talking back: African feminism in dialogue’ interview series I conducted with 15 African feminist activists, policymakers, researchers and artists of diverse ages, genders, sexualities, ability and nationality in which they shared their visions, personal and institutional biographies and aspirations. It explores the intersections of feminist activism, knowledge production, solidarity and power dynamics in Africa and the African diaspora. The essay delves into how African feminists challenge existing power structures, including patriarchy, colonialism, racism, fundamentalisms, capitalism and heteronormativity. It emphasises the importance of feminist scholarship and activism in reshaping political economies and political ecologies and challenging the status quo. The piece discusses the lived experiences of African feminist social movements and their efforts to redefine social contracts.

Leave Her Alone, She Speaks the Truth

Most feminist debates, including Western Feminism and postcolonial strands of feminism such as African Feminisms, place emphasis on religion – specifically Christianity – as an oppressive structure dominating women, and justifiably so. Within feminist and colonial discourses, however, Christianity occupies complex, ambiguous spaces. In considering Christianity’s positioning within colonialism and feminism, an African feminist position should seek to recognize the contradictions inherent in Christianity and, by extension, facilitate the nuanced experiences women in postcolonial, global South contexts have with Christianity. While some women might find Christianity oppressive, others may find it deeply fulfilling and others still may experience these dichotomies simultaneously. This article presents an African feminist reading of Katori Hall’s play, Our Lady of Kibeho (2018). Inspired by real-life events and centering Christianity (specifically Catholicism), Hall’s play tells the story of three Rwandan convent high-school girls – Alphonsine, Anathalie, and Marie-Claire – whose Marian apparitions garnered widespread attention. Through a textual analysis of, primarily, Alphonsine, who reportedly had the first and most frequent visitations, Christianity is proffered as a site of concurrent oppression and liberation. This article does not engage in the specificities of Catholic doctrine, but rather offers a discussion of varied encounters with Christianity.

The Concept of Feminism within the Specificity of African Philosophy

This paper explores the evolution and impact of African feminist theories within the historical and socio-cultural context of the continent. It delves into pre-colonial gender roles, illustrating the significant influence and authority women held in various African societies, such as the Akan and Igbo communities. The study examines the disruption of these roles by colonialism, which imposed Western patriarchal structures and marginalised women’s economic and political participation. Post-colonial developments highlight the emergence of feminist movements that strive to address these historical injustices and advocate for gender equality. Indigenous feminist theories such as Motherism, Stiwanism, and Ubuntu Feminism are emphasised, showcasing their unique approaches that blend traditional African values with contemporary feminist ideals. These theories and movements provide a nuanced understanding of gender dynamics, advocating for reforms that resonate with African cultural contexts while addressing modern challenges such as economic disenfranchisement, access to education, and gender-based violence. The paper underscores the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge systems with feminist principles to achieve a more inclusive and equitable society.

“First Woman to…” Exceptionalism Discourse

“First women to…” labels define the ways in which women leaders are characterized as “exceptional”. As already pointed out by some feminist scholars, exceptionalism discourse valorizes women’s achievements to the benefit of institutions and their patriarchal culture. While such valorization might enhance gender representation in spaces previously reserved for men, it also commodifies women’s capabilities. This, I argue, calls for resisting the subtle, less visible, often unintentional, and sometimes patronizing forms of discrimination that sustain the patriarchal culture of institutions such as “the church”. Many feminist theologians have repeatedly named “the cultural-political power at work in our world as patriarchy”. Questions about the relationship between patriarchal institutional culture and the legitimate presence of women leaders are central to the argument presented here. The case of South African feminist theologian, Mary-Anne Plaatjies Van Huffel, is used to illustrate the relentless task women face of having to challenge pervasive gender-bias in the patriarchal institutional culture of the church. I then explore the plausibility of reflective solidarity as a theo-ethical concept and its potential to transform the patriarchal institutional culture of the church.

Towards a Pan African Feminist Taxation Framework

Towards a Pan African Feminist Taxation Framework

Debunking Stereotypes: Gendered Women’s Roles in Wedding Songs of the Nyiha of Mbozi in South-western Tanzania

Wedding songs, as a genre of oral literature, entertain, instruct, and spread cultural values such as civility, respect, and environmental conservations in different traditional societies, including the Nyiha of South-western Tanzania. Although these songs have attracted the attention of many scholars, many of the scholars have focused on their performative roles during wedding ceremonies and neglected the representation of gendered roles of women in these songs. In this regard, the cultural representation of social beliefs and attitudes towards married Nyiha women is a contested aspect which the present article investigates. Informed by African feminism, this article contextually analyses wedding songs using data obtained through observation, which entailed systematically selecting, watching, listening to, and recording songs. Subsequently, through close listening and reading of the transcribed songs, the article analysed the lyrics translated into English. The article found that Nyiha wedding songs situate married women in a position where they are obliged to serve their families and take care of their husbands throughout their marriage life irrespective of their age. On this account, the article argues that Nyiha wedding songs portray a woman as a provider, a role that she assumes from the first day of her marriage. The songs paint a married Nyiha woman as the only individual in the family who is accountable to ensure the survival if not success of the marriage institution.

Unleashing Neglected Potentials: Women’s Self-awareness and Empowerment in Flora Nwapa’s One is Enough

This article examines the portrayal of women's capabilities in Flora Nwapa’s 1986 novel One is Enough, focusing on their neglected potentials such as aggression, autonomy, and daring acts that help these female characters make personal decisions that are inconsistent with conventional limits often placed on a woman's free will and potential to engage in economic entrepreneurial activities. Guided by African feminism and radical feminism, the article examines how both female and male characters are depicted as victims of patriarchy, on the one hand, and how female characters emerge as radical, sometimes even threatening patriarchy in the face of shifting social relations, on the other hand. The article argues that Nwapa’s novel marks a radical shift in literary knowledge regarding the characterisation of African women in African literary discourses, suggesting that self-awareness unlocks their neglected potentials that catalyse their entrepreneurial spirit. Implicitly, the novel calls for a new perspective on how the female subjects should be viewed and treated, considering that some aggressive female characters fight with men and resort to unconventional ways of earning income, such as selling commodities on the battlefield and soliciting financial help from acquaintances through intimate relationships while disregarding traditional conventions and etiquette.

Exploring Black Writers’ Literary Strategies for Interdependence and Global Solidarity

This paper seeks to explore the techniques and strategies used by African and Afro-American writers to disseminate a sense of Black interdependence and solidarity on a global level. It will examine how Black authors are unceasingly using a planned strategy in their literary works to encourage Black people to envision a sustainable future for themselves. We contend that Black authors and critics are incessantly using the literary medium to inspire Black audiences to self-heal themselves from the trauma associated with European colonization of Africa in the bygone days and this issue is yet to receive a noteworthy observation in the literary field. Hence, this paper will examine various dimensions associated with the Black literary genre to explore more about the philosophies and strategies imbibed by Black writers to encourage their people to self-heal from their past while comprehending the significance of mutual interconnectedness. The select works this paper seeks to study comparatively are Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart (2010), Alice Walker’s epistolary novel The Color Purple (2014), Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes’s fantasy fiction The Deep (2020), and Nnedi Okorafor’s science fiction Lagoon (2014). The frameworks used for this study are Postcolonialism, Africanfuturism, Afrofuturism, and African feminism which are treated as the vantage ground for this reading.

War, Women and Post-conflict Empowerment: Lessons from Sierra Leone

War, Women and Post-conflict Empowerment: Lessons from Sierra Leone, edited by Josephine Beoku-Betts and Fredline A. M’Cormack-Hale uses an African Feminist theory to explicate how issues such as class, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and heteronormativity intersect and are shaped by women in the African context, specifically in the war and post war contexts. The book offers conceptual frameworks embedded in “African centred gendered analysis” which privileges African lived realities and localised understandings of empowerment and development over dominant Western neoliberal conceptual frameworks. It does this by showcasing various womanhood and motherhood strategies used by women in Sierra Leone to end the 11-year Civil War (1991–2002). Equally so, the book divulges various ways women’s mass mobilisation has contributed to post-war Sierra Leone which saw the passage of landmark laws that protect women from patriarchal violations that predate the 11-year Civil War.

The underrepresentation of women in sport leadership in South Africa.

The lack of representation of women in sport leadership, despite global movements and policies that have found some traction, is a persistent, unremitting challenge globally, and especially in South Africa. This study aimed to explore the intersections of gender and sports ideology and its impact on gender (in) equity in the South African context. The study draws on African feminist theories and perspectives as a conceptual framework. Twenty-eight interviews with prominent administrators, gender activists in sport, and practitioners from the sport-for-development sector and thematic document analysis provided qualitative data for the generation of three main themes relating to: (i) norms and values; (ii) male resistance; and (iii) agency. The results of the study show minimal traction on changing patriarchally informed cultural beliefs towards women with men as gatekeepers and masculinity framed for leadership attributes in most sports. Within an African feminist viewpoint, gender justice is multilayered and the inclusion of women within a holistic environment of shared decision-making and equitable resource mobilisation and distribution cannot be achieved through advocacy alone but necessitate the mainstreaming of a gender agenda to meaningfully address transformative change of sport systems and practices.

Self-Defence and Battered Woman Syndrome in a Selected isiXhosa Short Story

The fact that there are continued public reports of abuse and violence against women and young girls in South Africa, and elsewhere in the global village, is enough to underline that gender-based violence (GBV) is profoundly entrenched in social and human settings. Considering this, it stands to reason to recurrently contest this challenge relying on isiXhosa literature, among other mechanisms. In fact, violence against women and young girls has been regarded by several scholars, government and non-governmental organisations, and community members as an international crisis. On account of this, this article critiques how self-defence and battered woman syndrome (BWS) are reproduced in a selected isiXhosa short story titled “Umfazi Akayongqongqo” (A woman is not a punching bag). This short story is recognised herein as a primary source of data, while African feminist theory is applied to uncover the complexities pertaining to self-defence and BWS as they emerge as a direct consequence of prolonged incidents of GBV. The findings and discussions indicate that prolonged occurrences of abuse and violence towards women and young girls have the potential to lead to situations where victims of GBV cannot tolerate it any longer, hence resulting in retaliation, self-defence and BWS. While there are contrasting views concerning self-defence and BWS, particularly within the legal frameworks, this article underlines the necessity to strike a balance between these important social, cultural, and political issues in a bid to reasonably solve the conundrum—GBV. The concluding remarks present possible future scholarly discourses that may be considered in an attempt to address this challenge. For instance, it would be prudent to consider ways to decolonise isiXhosa literary scholarship, focusing on re-evaluating traditional canons, challenging Eurocentric voices and promoting indigenous African knowledge systems (IAKS). By the same token, it would be perceptive to examine how isiXhosa literature mirrors and responds to the legacies of colonialism, including matters related to identity, language, and cultural representation.

African feminist activism and democracy: Social media publics and Zimbabwean women in politics online

“We need to begin our questioning, activism and theorising from the spaces from which we are dying,” Funmi Olonisakin. The political landscape in Zimbabwe is largely a post-colonial hetero-patriarchal domain that pushes women politicians to the border of politics. Constraints in civic engagement and political participation that is characteristic of a shrinking democracy and exclusionary public sphere subsist. The 2023 election and its campaign period has shown that the socio-economic and political landscape is unpredictable with serious threats to women’s participation in politics. The lives of Zimbabwean women in politics are continually subjected to multiple forms of violence online and offline. Meanwhile, African feminist activism in the country has seemingly taken several steps back. Zimbabwean feminist activists risk being co-opted into the hetero-patriarchal socio-political structures. There is evidence of a considerable disconnect between feminist/gender activists and women in politics that needs to be addressed. In Senegal and South Africa among other countries, protests by younger generations of feminists have addressed this divide through innovations in protest strategies resulting in the re-formation of radical politics (Dieng, 2023; Hassim, 2023). With social media at the disposal of the younger generation of women politicians the movement is set on a revolutionary trajectory. The sustained social media presence of the new crop of women politicians has created active intimate and counter-publics who engage in vital Zimbabwean political dialogue. The new crop of women politicians referred to here are younger women politicians who unlike their predecessors are very active on social media and have no liberation war experience. The study locates social media as a provenance for Zimbabwean feminist activist revolutionising and democracy initiatives. Theoretically, I posit that the contentions around women’s political participation and violations against Zimbabwean women in politics are revealing of intricacies in African feminism and the coloniality of gender and how these, together with theories of the public sphere can further feminist activism. The study will utilise online ethnography of purposively selected Facebook posts and Tweets by Zimbabwean women in politics, feminist activists and/or gender organisations.

Exploring Pathways Towards Conflicts Prevention and Resolution Mechanisms and Reconciliation Strategies in West Africa

This article explores pathways towards conflicts prevention and resolution mechanisms and reconciliation strategies in West Africa with Mali as a case study. Relying on traditional and modern mechanisms and strategies, it explores the rich values and traditions of conflict resolution and peace-building processes used by the Malian government and communities to settle the prevailing conflicts and build a sustainable peace. Indeed, The traditional Malian society was woven together by diverse forms of mutual assistance and solidarity across established families, lineages and clans. That form of social and cultural organization permitted them to prevent and resolve conflicts. To make peace, the Malians need to rely on those ancient values that represented solid foundations to building a strong and peaceful society. This paper further brings to light the modern mechanisms and reconciliation strategies of peacemaking and peacebuilding using the conflict theories of Karl Max and Ludwig Gumplowicz, postcolonialism, and African feminism with the role of women in that process.

Examination of three postcolonial African writers' perspectives on third world feminism

A variation of feminism known as postcolonial feminism emerged in opposition to feminism that exclusively addressed women's experiences in Western societies. In order to demonstrate how racism and the lasting political, economic, and cultural repercussions of colonialism affect non-white and non-Western women in the postcolonial globe, postcolonial feminism examines these issues. African feminism is a subset of feminism developed by African women that is focused on the issues and concerns of women in continental Africa (African women residing on the African continent). These feminism movements do not all represent the realities of African women because Africa is not a homogeneous continent. Some feminists are particularly focused on particular subgroups of African women, including movements with a national foundation, such as feminism in Sweden, feminism in India, feminism in Mexico, feminism in Japan, feminism in Germany, feminism in South Africa, etc. The concept of feminism for many African writers in the post-colonial era in the Third World has been the subject of widespread controversy, as it is seen as a feminist movement in line with and for African women in the diaspora instead of African women in the African continent. In this study, we present the perspectives of three African writers interested in the feminist movement about their vision of the concepts and role of the feminist movement in the post-colonial era in the Third World by shedding light on African feminist movements and the challenges they face. The study presents the vision of three African writers for the women's movement in the Third World in general and the African continent in particular in the post-colonial period through the emergence and development of the African feminist movement, and the three writers selected in this study are activists of the feminist movement inside Africa through their literary activity. Delusion: Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Assia Djebar and Robert C.J.Young.

Food Is an African Feminist Issue

Abstract This essay argues that food—particularly the labor of preparing and producing food—should be seen as central to South African feminism, and to African feminisms more broadly. Salo explains how women provide the majority of the labor to produce food on the African continent, yet often are exposed to hunger because they do not own the means to food production. Moreover, as agribusiness encroaches on foodways and food production lands in Africa, this sector attempts to incorporate women in ways that continue to render them gendered subordinates in an unequal economic and political system. Centering food provides an important means for African feminists to continue recognizing the imbrication of gendered oppression with colonialism and neocolonialism, and to challenge these hierarchies while pursuing sustainability and social justice. Women’s agencies as food producers also offer alternatives to agribusiness and corporate food, including small-scale farming or gardening projects that intersect with political activism in urban and peri-urban areas. Salo discusses how such African women’s strategies align with concepts such as food sovereignty and ecofeminism, but also need to be recognized as occurring beyond the cultures of academic expertise often associated with such terms.