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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.
Oyěwùmí, Oyèrónkẹ́. (Re)constituting the Cosmology and Sociocultural Institutions of Ọ̀yọ́-Yorùbá
1997, in The Invention of Women. Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourse. London: University of Minnesota Press
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Expand entry
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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.
Akiode, Olajumoke. African Philosophy, its Questions, the Place and the Role of Women and its Disconnect with its World
2018, in Chimakonam, J. and du Toit, L. (eds.), African Philosophy and the Epistemic Marginalization of Women. London, New York: Routledge
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
An African philosophy that excludes women despite its African cultural origin and DNA of complementarity, inclusion, interrelatedness, and interconnectedness, as highlighted by concepts like ‘Ubuntu’, is indeed an aberration. The excuse that the process of forging the African identity in an era of exclusion from rationality called for a blanket or block procedure that could not accommodate demographic disaggregation is untenable. Also, the assumption of gender neutrality is a farce. This African philosophical enterprise is essentially an exhibition of a colonized mentality. The hermeneutic analysis of the pre-colonial Yoruba African world-view, its concept of existence, being/self, governance, and eldership, has offered proof that ideas of interconnectedness, interrelatedness, being-with-others, inclusion, and complementarity are entrenched and inseparable from the African world-view. In conclusion, it is therefore a valid argument and conclusion that if African philosophy is based on African world-views of complementarity, inclusion, and being-with-others, then external (colonial) influence on thought and the socialization process is responsible for the contemporary marginalization of women. When a correct diagnosis has been made, a prescription can be made accurately, and the cure is at hand.Comment (from this Blueprint): Examines the intersections of African philosophy, gender, and colonialism and thus provides a good introduction to these issues. This is a rather easily accessible text to learn about a contemporary position on issues of African women philosophers.
Asma'u, Nana. Be Sure of God’s Truth
1997, in Boyd, J. and Mack B. B. (eds.), Collected Works of Nana Asma’u, Daughter of Usman Dan Fodiyo, (1793-1864). East Lansing: MSU Press
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This manuscript is from a collection of poems written by Nana Asma'u Bint Usman 'dan Fodiyo, a nineteenth-century Muslim scholar, who lived in the region now known as northern Nigeria and was an eyewitness to battles of the largest of the West-African jihads of the era. The preparation and conduct of the jihad provide the topics for Nana Asma'u's poetry. Her work also includes treatises on history, law, mysticism, theology, and politics, and was heavily influenced by the Arabic poetic tradition. Asma'u rallied public opinion behind a movement devoted to the revival of Islam in West Africa and organized a public education system for women.Comment (from this Blueprint): The work of Nana Asma'u is an example of the contribution of women scholars to the Sufi intellectual tradition in the Sokoto Caliphate. The selected poems (1) emphasize the importance of acting rightly, and (2) offer a reflection on the relation between the moral/religious order and the political order. In the theocratic social structure she defends, she sets civil and religious responsibilities on an equal footing and insists on the duties and obligations imposed on those who govern as a guarantee of social justice.
Asma'u, Nana. The Path of Truth
1997, in Boyd, J. and Mack B. B. (eds.), Collected Works of Nana Asma’u, Daughter of Usman Dan Fodiyo, (1793-1864). East Lansing: MSU Press
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Expand entry
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This manuscript is from a collection of poems written by Nana Asma'u Bint Usman 'dan Fodiyo, a nineteenth-century Muslim scholar, who lived in the region now known as northern Nigeria and was an eyewitness to battles of the largest of the West-African jihads of the era. The preparation and conduct of the jihad provide the topics for Nana Asma'u's poetry. Her work also includes treatises on history, law, mysticism, theology, and politics, and was heavily influenced by the Arabic poetic tradition. Asma'u rallied public opinion behind a movement devoted to the revival of Islam in West Africa and organized a public education system for women.Comment (from this Blueprint): The work of Nana Asma'u is an example of the contribution of women scholars to the Sufi intellectual tradition in the Sokoto Caliphate. The selected poems (1) emphasize the importance of acting rightly, and (2) offer a reflection on the relation between the moral/religious order and the political order. In the theocratic social structure she defends, she sets civil and religious responsibilities on an equal footing and insists on the duties and obligations imposed on those who govern as a guarantee of social justice.
Mernissi, Fatima. Women’s Liberation in Muslim Countries
2011, in Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Muslim Society. London: Saqi Books
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
From the writing of her first book, Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society in 1975, Mernissi has sought to reclaim the ideological discourse on women and sexuality from the stranglehold of patriarchy. She critically examines the classical corpus of religious-juristic texts, including the Hadith, and reinterprets them from a feminist perspective. In her view, the Muslim ideal of the silent, passive, obedient woman has nothing to do with the authentic message of Islam. Rather, it is a construction of the 'ulama', the male jurists-theologians who manipulated and distorted the religious texts in order to preserve the patriarchal system. Mernissi's work explores the relationship between sexual ideology, gender identity, sociopolitical organization, and the status of women in Islam; her special focus, however, is Moroccan society and culture. As a feminist, her work represents an attempt to undermine the ideological and political systems that silence and oppress Muslim women.Comment (from this Blueprint): Fatima Mernissi’s works provide an insight into the debate on the place of women in Muslim societies. This book is interesting in that it shows how the male-female dynamic was built on a particular interpretation of the Qur'an and how this ideology organized and regulated social roles according to gender. It also provides an understanding of how male-female interactions are affected by the processes of modernization in Muslim societies.
Mama, Amina. Enslaving the Soul of the Other
1995, in Beyond the Masks. Race, Gender and Subjectivity. 1st ed. London: Taylor & Francis Group
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
Psychology has had a number of things to say about black and coloured people, none of them favourable, and most of which have reinforced stereotyped and derogatory images. Beyond the Masks is a readable account of black psychology, exploring key theoretical issues in race and gender. In it, Amina Mama examines the history of racist psychology, and of the implicit racism throughout the discipline. Beyond the Masks also offers an important theoretical perspective, and will appeal to all those involved with ethnic minorities, gender politics and questions of identity.Comment (from this Blueprint): The study of Amina Mama allows for the development of an understanding of black women's multiple subjectivities and their experience of racism and sexism, while at the same time showing that the black individual cannot be defined only via racism. She unveils the absurd effects of anti-black thought in psychology and how black psychologists have worked on developing non-racist theories of black identity.
Amadiume, Ifi. The Ideology of Gender
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).
1997, Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 32, Taylor & Francis, Ltd
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
CHERYL DE LA REY leads a discussion with AMINA MAMA about the writer's groundbreaking work on black subjectivity. ZINE MAGUBANE presents some of the highlights of the conversation on the book BEYOND THE MASKS, held at the African Gender Institute in Cape Town.Comment (from this Blueprint): This conversation with Amina Mama on some of the core elements of her book provides an excellent guide to some of her ideas and allows to place them within the larger context.
Mernissi, Fatima. The Muslim Concept of Active Female Sexuality
2011, in Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Muslim Society. London: Saqi Books
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Expand entry
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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
From the writing of her first book, Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society in 1975, Mernissi has sought to reclaim the ideological discourse on women and sexuality from the stranglehold of patriarchy. She critically examines the classical corpus of religious-juristic texts, including the Hadith, and reinterprets them from a feminist perspective. In her view, the Muslim ideal of the silent, passive, obedient woman has nothing to do with the authentic message of Islam. Rather, it is a construction of the 'ulama', the male jurists-theologians who manipulated and distorted the religious texts in order to preserve the patriarchal system. Mernissi's work explores the relationship between sexual ideology, gender identity, sociopolitical organization, and the status of women in Islam; her special focus, however, is Moroccan society and culture. As a feminist, her work represents an attempt to undermine the ideological and political systems that silence and oppress Muslim women.Comment (from this Blueprint): Fatima Mernissi’s works provide an insight into the debate on the place of women in Muslim societies. This book is interesting in that it shows how the male-female dynamic was built on a particular interpretation of the Qur'an and how this ideology organized and regulated social roles according to gender. It also provides an understanding of how male-female interactions are affected by the processes of modernization in Muslim societies.