Africa After Gender?
by Catherine M. Cole /
2007 / English / PDF
14.3 MB Download
Gender is one of the most productive, dynamic, and vibrant areas
of Africanist research today. But what is the meaning of gender
in an African context? Why does gender usually connote women? Why
has gender taken hold in Africa when feminism hasn’t? Is gender
yet another Western construct that has been applied to Africa
however ill-suited and riddled with assumptions? Africa After
Gender? looks at Africa now that gender has come into play to
consider how the continent, its people, and the term itself have
changed. Leading Africanist historians, anthropologists, literary
critics, and political scientists move past simple dichotomies,
entrenched debates, and polarizing identity politics to present
an evolving discourse of gender. They show gender as an applied
rather than theoretical tool and discuss themes such as the
performance of sexuality, lesbianism, women’s political
mobilization, the work of gendered NGOs, and the role of
masculinity in a gendered world. For activists, students, and
scholars, this book reveals a rich and cross-disciplinary view of
the status of gender in Africa today.
Gender is one of the most productive, dynamic, and vibrant areas
of Africanist research today. But what is the meaning of gender
in an African context? Why does gender usually connote women? Why
has gender taken hold in Africa when feminism hasn’t? Is gender
yet another Western construct that has been applied to Africa
however ill-suited and riddled with assumptions? Africa After
Gender? looks at Africa now that gender has come into play to
consider how the continent, its people, and the term itself have
changed. Leading Africanist historians, anthropologists, literary
critics, and political scientists move past simple dichotomies,
entrenched debates, and polarizing identity politics to present
an evolving discourse of gender. They show gender as an applied
rather than theoretical tool and discuss themes such as the
performance of sexuality, lesbianism, women’s political
mobilization, the work of gendered NGOs, and the role of
masculinity in a gendered world. For activists, students, and
scholars, this book reveals a rich and cross-disciplinary view of
the status of gender in Africa today.
Contributors are Hussaina J. Abdullah, Nwando Achebe, Susan
Andrade, Eileen Boris, Catherine M. Cole, Paulla A. Ebron, Eileen
Julien, Lisa A. Lindsay, Adrienne MacIain, Takyiwaa Manuh,
Stephan F. Miescher, Helen Mugambi, Gay Seidman, Sylvia Tamale,
Bridget Teboh, Lynn M. Thomas, and Nana Wilson-Tagoe.
Contributors are Hussaina J. Abdullah, Nwando Achebe, Susan
Andrade, Eileen Boris, Catherine M. Cole, Paulla A. Ebron, Eileen
Julien, Lisa A. Lindsay, Adrienne MacIain, Takyiwaa Manuh,
Stephan F. Miescher, Helen Mugambi, Gay Seidman, Sylvia Tamale,
Bridget Teboh, Lynn M. Thomas, and Nana Wilson-Tagoe.