Gendering Knowledge in Africa and the African Diaspora: Contesting History and Power

293 Pages·2017·3.33 MB·English

by  Toyin Falola

Gendering Knowledge in Africa and
the African Diaspora
Gendering Knowledge in Africa and the African Diaspora addresses the ques-
tion of to what extent the history of gender in Africa is appropriately inscribed in
narratives of power, patriarchy, migration, identity and women and men’s sub-
jection, emasculation and empowerment. The book weaves together compelling
narratives about women, men and gender relations in Africa and the African
Diaspora from multidisciplinary perspectives, with a view to advancing original
ways of understanding these subjects.
The chapters achieve three things: first, they deliberately target long- held but
erroneous notions about patriarchy, power, gender, migration and masculinity in
Africa and of the African Diaspora, vigorously contesting these, and debunking
them; second, they unearth previously marginalized and little known his/herstories,
depicting the dynamics of gender and power in places ranging from Angola to
Arabia to America, and in different time periods, decidedly gendering the previ-
ously male-d ominated discourse; and third, they ultimately aim to re- write the
stories of women and gender relations in Africa and in the African Diaspora. As
such, this work is an important read for scholars of African history, gender and
the African Diaspora.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of African Studies,
Diaspora Studies, Gender and History.
Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humani-
ties, and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at
Austin, USA.
Olajumoke Yacob- Haliso is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Babcock
University in Nigeria.
Global Africa
Series Editors: Toyin Falola and Roy Doron
1 Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa
Edited by Emmanuel M. Mbah and Toyin Falola
2 Environment and Identity Politics in Colonial Africa
Emmanuel M. Mbah
3 Poverty Reduction Strategies in Africa
Edited by Toyin Falola and Mike Odugbo Odey
4 Literature and Culture in Global Africa
Tanure Ojaide
5 Gendering Knowledge in Africa and the African Diaspora
Contesting History and Power
Edited by Toyin Falola and Olajumoke Yacob-H aliso
Gendering Knowledge in
Africa and the African
Diaspora
Contesting History and Power
Edited by Toyin Falola and
Olajumoke Yacob- Haliso
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 selection and editorial matter, Toyin Falola and Olajumoke
Yacob- Haliso; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Toyin Falola and Olajumoke Yacob-H aliso to be identified as
the authors of the editorial matter, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Falola, Toyin, editor. | Yacob-Haliso, Olajumoke, editor.
Title: Gendering knowledge in Africa and the African diaspora :
contesting history and power / edited by Toyin Falola and Olajumoke
Yacob-Haliso.
Other titles: Global Africa ; 5.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Global Africa ;
5 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017006083 | ISBN 9781138037700 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315177717 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women–Africa–History. | Women–Africa–Social
conditions. | Sex role–Africa–History. | Africa–Social life and customs. |
African diaspora–Social conditions.
Classification: LCC HQ1787 .G458 2018 | DDC 305.42096–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017006083
ISBN: 978-1-138-03770-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-17771-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
For Ashenaffi and Betsega, with love.

Contents
List of illustrations ix
Notes on contributors x
Preface xvi
Introduction: gendering knowledge in Africa and the
African Diaspora 1
OLAJUMOkE YACOB- HALISO AND TOYIN FALOLA
PART I
(Re-)writing gender in African and African Diaspora
history 17
1 The Bantu Matrilineal Belt: reframing African women’s
history 19
RHONDA M. GONzALES, CHRISTINE SAIDI AND
CATHERINE CYMONE FOURSHEY
2 REMAPping the African Diaspora: place, gender and
negotiation in Arabian slavery 43
ALAINE S. HUTSON
3 Communicating feminist ethics in the age of New Media in
Africa 64
SHARON ADETUTU OMOTOSO
viii Contents
PART II
Gender, migration and identity 85
4 Transnational feminist solidarity, Black German women
and the politics of belonging 87
TIFFANY N. FLORvIL
5 Beyond disability: the Trans-A tlantic Slave Trade and
female heroism in Manu Herbstein’s Ama 111
SENAYON OLAOLUWA
6 Reverse migration of Africans in the Diaspora:
foregrounding a woman’s quest for her roots in Tess
Akaeke Onwueme’s Legacies 127
METHUSELAH JEREMIAH
PART III
Gender, subjection and power 141
7 Queens in flight: Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat Queens and the
performance of “Black” feminist Diasporas 143
DOTUN AYOBADE
8 Women and tfu in Wimbum Community, Cameroon 164
ELIAS k. BONGMBA
9 Women’s agency and peacebuilding in Nigeria’s Jos crises 188
OMOTOLA ADEYOJU ILESANMI
10 Contesting the notions of “thugs and welfare queens”:
combating Black derision and death 205
LEAMON BAzIL
11 Culture of silence and gender development in Nigeria 240
GIFT U. NTIWUNkA AND RACHAEL OLUSEYE IYANDA
12 Emasculation, social humiliation and psychological
castration in Irene’s More than Dancing 253
MOBOLANLE E. SOTUNSA AND FRANCIS O. JEGEDE
Index 264
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Ethnolinguistic groups making up the Bantu Matrilineal Belt 25
7.1 Aya Yem and Oremi 152
7.2 Wunmi in performance at Hornings Hideout, North Plains,
Oregon, July 2012 153
Tables
2.1 Labor assignment and reason for running away 46
2.2 Gender and result of bid for freedom 47
2.3 Country of origin and result of bid for freedom 51
2.4 Women’s labor assignments and country of origin 52
2.5 Number of owners and place fled from 55
2.6 Women—number of owners and place fled from 55
2.7 Runaway slave family types and the place fled from 56