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Ipadeola, Abosede Priscilla. African Philosophy and the Shackles of Androcentrism
2022, in Feminist African Philosophy. Women and the Politics of Difference. 1st ed. London: Routledge
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
The book argues that women's perspectives and gender issues must be mainstreamed across African philosophy in order for the discipline to truly represent the thoughts of Africans across the continent. African philosophy as an academic discipline emerged as a direct challenge to Western and Eurocentric hegemonies. It sought to actualize the project of decolonization and to contribute African perspectives to global discourses. There has, however, been a dominance of male perspectives in this field of human knowledge. This book argues that African philosophy cannot claim to have liberated people of African descent from marginalization until the androcentric nature of African philosophy is addressed. Key concepts such as Ujamaa, Negritude, Ubuntu, Consciencism, and African Socialism are explored as they relate to African women's lives or as models of inclusion or exclusion from politics. In addition to offering a feminist critique of African philosophy, the book also discusses topics that have been consistently overlooked in African philosophy. These topics include sex, sexuality, rape, motherhood, prostitution, and the low participation of women in politics. By highlighting the work of women feminist scholars such as Oyeronke Oyewumi, Nkiru Nzegwu, Ifi Amadiume, Amina Mama, and Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, the book engages with African philosophy from an African feminist viewpoint. This book will be an essential resource for students and researchers of African philosophy and gender studies.Comment (from this Blueprint): Ipadeola's work not only addresses the problem of the marginalization of African women philosophers but also allows us to understand that this problem has a massive impact on philosophy itself. Students can find in these two chapters (1) a solid overview of the androcentric problem and (2) an epistemological approach to how to solve not only the androcentric problem, but the problem of suppressive thought in general by claiming that whatever is used to suppress can no longer be understood as knowledge but as not-knowledge. This not-knowledge lacks any argumentative power. This is one of the most ingenious recent African ideas in philosophy.
Olúwọlé, Sophie Bọsẹdé. The Rational Basis of Yoruba Ethical Thinking
1992, in Witchcraft, Reincarnation and the God-Head (Issues in African Philosophy). Lagos: Excel Publishers
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
An explanation of the Yoruba understanding of rationality, its immediate connection to practical ethics, and its roots in oral Yoruba traditions.Comment (from this Blueprint): By studying Olúwọlé, students can learn this week that African women philosophers have not worked on feminist issues alone. Olúwọlé allows one to learn about a different rationale than the commonly known Western one. This can nicely be juxtaposed with philosophers like Descartes or Kant. Olúwọlé's philosophy of rationality and the connection of this philosophy with Yoruba culture, esp. with Yoruba oral traditions of philosophy, allows to re-evaluate the (seemingly) undeniable evidence of Western philosophy. Furthermore, it also shows some commonalities that were denied in later Western philosophical history (for instance, that at the inception of Western philosophy we do find in Socrates another oral philosopher).
Amadiume, Ifi. Gender and the Economy
1987, in Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society. London/New Jersey: Zed Books
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
In 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume published the groundbreaking 'Male Daughters, Female Husbands' to critical acclaim. This compelling, enduring, and highly original book argues that gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. Amadiume examines the African societal structures that enabled people to achieve power within fluid masculine and feminine roles. At a time when gender and queer theory is viewed by many as overly focused on identity politics, this apt text not only warns against the danger of projecting Western notions of difference onto other cultures, but also questions the very concept of gender itself.Comment (from this Blueprint): Amadiume explains the institutional and ideological power of women in the pre-colonial 19th century, the downfall of this power during colonialism, and the continuation of women's marginalization in society. This study allows to develop an understanding of the highly complex sex/gender understanding in African (here: Igbo) societies. It will show that the Western understanding of sex and gender might be fruitfully applicable for certain (Western) societies, but is only of limited (if not detrimental) use within African spaces. The book is thus not only a lesson in African philosophy, African feminism, or Igbo thought, it also teaches an important caveat with regard to the cultural relativity of concepts (like sex and gender).
Olúwọlé, Sophie Bọsẹdé. Philosophy and Oral Tradition
1999, in Philosophy and Oral Tradition. Lagos: African Research Konsultancy (ARK)
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
From: Sophie Oluwole: Celebrating the Radical Spirit of African Philosophy, By Tunji Olaopa
In Philosophy and Oral Tradition (1997), Sophie Oluwole urges us to return to Africa’s oral tradition as the source of excavating an authentic foundation of Africa’s intellectual culture which the West has tried so hard to undermine and destroy. One argument that underlies the relevance of Africa’s oral tradition is that the traditional and cultural practices of the past must have been guided by some form of logic and rational principles which not only predate the Western scientific canon, but which cannot also be subsumed totally under it.
Comment (from this Blueprint): By studying Olúwọlé, students can learn this week that African women philosophers have not worked on feminist issues alone. Olúwọlé allows one to learn about a different rationale than the commonly known Western one. This can nicely be juxtaposed with philosophers like Descartes or Kant. Olúwọlé's philosophy of rationality and the connection of this philosophy with Yoruba culture, esp. with Yoruba oral traditions of philosophy, allows to re-evaluate the (seemingly) undeniable evidence of Western philosophy. Furthermore, it also shows some commonalities that were denied in later Western philosophical history (for instance, that at the inception of Western philosophy we do find in Socrates another oral philosopher).
Boni, Tanella. What Does Being in the World Mean? Thinking Life and Domestic Bonds in the Twenty-First-Century Africa
2021, in Bidima, J. G. and Hengehold, L. (eds.), African Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century: Acts of Transition. 1st ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This paper explores the mutations of the domestic bonds in contemporary Africa. Tanella Boni argues that the economic and social globalization led to a transformation of familial relations. These changes have forced a redefinition of the nature of positions and relationships within families. The desire to cope with these changes has led to the implementation of adaptive strategies, producing familial entities characterized by more complex relationships but still retaining their hierarchical structures and inequalities.Comment (from this Blueprint): In this paper, Tanella Boni provides an analysis of the social dynamics in Africa based on its smallest unit, the family. She explains how bonds and positions within families are reinterpreted to adapt to changes in African societies.
Boni, Tanella. Feminism, Philosophy, and Culture in Africa
2017, in Garry, A., Khader, S. J. and Stone, A. (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy. 1st ed. London: Routledge
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
African feminisms emerge out of a heterogeneous context. Because Africa's globalization has been ongoing for centuries now, African women pay a steep price for it, all while the patriarchal order remains firmly in place. The many African feminisms, however, cannot be boiled down to "gender" or a "gendered approach", since that word does not mean much if it is not being applied to a set of facts. Indeed, it seems that "gender" serves to unravel the causes of the inequalities, injustices and harms that women must face. While there is, among African women, a desire to throw off the colonial yoke by thinking of ourselves through the paradigms of a pre-colonial past, it is also worrisome that theoretical reflection is often too far away from the situations in which most African women find themselves. A language barrier separates African feminists from one another.Comment (from this Blueprint): This text is interesting in highlighting the challenges of feminism in the African context. In this text, Tanella Boni explains the discomfort caused by the use of the term "feminism" and analyzes how the language gap in Africa affects the way women-related issues are addressed.
du Toit, Louise, Coetzee, Azille. Gendering African Philosophy, or: African Feminism as Decolonizing Force
2017, in Afolayan, A. and Falola, T. (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of African Philosophy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
Although feminist authors and publications abound in other disciplines on the continent, professional African philosophy is overwhelmingly male dominated, with a conspicuous absence of feminist and gender themes. To redress the situation, du Toit and Coetzee consider the choice between applying globally dominant feminist frameworks to issues and debates in the African context or outright immersion in the masculine field of African philosophy in order to open up spaces for feminist questions in dialogue with indigenous worldviews and philosophical positions. In this chapter the authors focus on the second option, in line with recent calls to more authentically contextualize philosophical practice on the continent. The chapter examines the themes of sexual agency and motherhood. Grounded in this way, African feminist philosophy emerges as a potentially powerful source of critique and partner in dialogue with the more established strands of feminist thought.Comment (from this Blueprint): The interest of this article lies in the way it addresses the question of decolonization. It offers an analysis of the mechanisms that have allowed the memory of colonized peoples to remain under the influence of the colonial narrative and shows how feminist studies can contribute to a real emancipation of African memories and identities.
du Toit, Louise. Old Wives’ Tales and Philosophical Delusions: On ‘the Problem of Women and African Philosophy’
2008, in South African Journal of Philosophy, 27(4), Taylor & Francis
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This article represents a response to ‘the problem of women and African philosophy’, which refers mainly to the absence of strong women’s and feminist voices within the discipline of African philosophy. I investigate the possibility that African women are not so much excluded from the institutionalized discipline of philosophy, as preferring fiction as a genre for intellectual expression. This hypothesis can be supported by some feminists who read the absolute prioritisation of abstraction and generalization over the concrete and the particular as a masculine and western oppressive strategy. Attention to the concrete and the unique which is made possible by literature more readily than by philosophy, could thus operate as a form of political resistance in certain contexts. If fiction is currently the preferred form of intellectual expression of African women, it is crucial that the community of professional philosophers in a context like South Africa should come to terms with the relevance of such a preference for philosophy’s self-conception, and it should work to make these intellectual contributions philosophically fruitful. In the process, we may entertain the hope that philosophy itself will move closer to its root or source as ‘love of wisdom’.Comment (from this Blueprint): This paper is interesting because it addresses the question of the representation of women in philosophy. It contrasts the underrepresentation of women in philosophy with their representation in literature and explains this difference by a deliberate choice consistent with the struggles of African women.
Amadiume, Ifi. Women, Wealth, Titles and Power
1987, in Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society. London/New Jersey: Zed Books
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Expand entry
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
In 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume published the groundbreaking 'Male Daughters, Female Husbands' to critical acclaim. This compelling, enduring, and highly original book argues that gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. Amadiume examines the African societal structures that enabled people to achieve power within fluid masculine and feminine roles. At a time when gender and queer theory is viewed by many as overly focused on identity politics, this apt text not only warns against the danger of projecting Western notions of difference onto other cultures, but also questions the very concept of gender itself.Comment (from this Blueprint): Amadiume explains the institutional and ideological power of women in the pre-colonial 19th century, the downfall of this power during colonialism, and the continuation of women's marginalization in society. This study allows to develop an understanding of the highly complex sex/gender understanding in African (here: Igbo) societies. It will show that the Western understanding of sex and gender might be fruitfully applicable for certain (Western) societies, but is only of limited (if not detrimental) use within African spaces. The book is thus not only a lesson in African philosophy, African feminism, or Igbo thought, it also teaches an important caveat with regard to the cultural relativity of concepts (like sex and gender).
Oyěwùmí, Oyèrónkẹ́. Visualizing the Body: Western Theories and African Subjects
1997, in The Invention of Women. Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourse. London: University of Minnesota Press
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
The “woman question,” this book asserts, is a Western one, and not a proper lens for viewing African society. A work that rethinks gender as a Western construction, The Invention of Women offers a new way of understanding both Yoruban and Western cultures. Author Oyeronke Oyewumi reveals an ideology of biological determinism at the heart of Western social categories-the idea that biology provides the rationale for organizing the social world. And yet, she writes, the concept of “woman,” central to this ideology and to Western gender discourses, simply did not exist in Yorubaland, where the body was not the basis of social roles. Oyewumi traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. Her analysis shows the paradoxical nature of two fundamental assumptions of feminist theory: that gender is socially constructed and that the subordination of women is universal. The Invention of Women demonstrates, to the contrary, that gender was not constructed in old Yoruba society, and that social organization was determined by relative age. A meticulous historical and epistemological account of an African culture on its own terms, this book makes a persuasive argument for a cultural, context-dependent interpretation of social reality. It calls for a reconception of gender discourse and the categories on which such study relies. More than that, the book lays bare the hidden assumptions in the ways these different cultures think. A truly comparative sociology of an African culture and the Western tradition, it will change the way African studies and gender studies proceed.Comment (from this Blueprint): A foundational and controversial work of African (feminist) philosophy. Oyěwùmí introduces the idea of gender being a Western construct that has been imposed on African communities. Oyěwùmí provides a perspective on the Western discourse on sex and gender widely unknown within Western philosophical institutions.