ABSTRACT
By the end of Chapter 6, you will be able to:
Explain the notion of Afro-feminism
Describe and explain some of the central arguments of African feminist thought
Consider the impact of colonialism, church and state on female agency in Africa
Assess the mainstream Western feminist assumption that ‘woman’ is a universal social category and gender a key social organising principle
Discuss the relationship between patriarchal and matriarchal systems
Apply understanding to case studies
African feminism or Afro-feminism takes the focus of Chapter 6. Afro-feminism is a homegrown feminist theoretical and practical approach to African studies and gender relations in Africa that centres Indigenous African worldviews (Tamale, 2020). Afro-feminism offers culturally appropriate and context-specific ways in which to engage the lived experiences of African women and women living in Africa. Afro-feminist thought and praxis aims to challenge women’s subordination in response to globalisation, classism, colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, racism and sexism (Tamale, 2020). The Afro-feminist studies discussed in this chapter illustrate that contrary to popular anthropological, ethnographic and mainstream Western feminist thought, kinship – not gender – was the main organising social principle of precolonial African societies.