Feminist Knowledge | Bibliography: African Women's Studies II
Studies of religion have been undertaken from a range of disciplinary angles that include anthropology, history, sociology and cultural studies. Four developments are particularly noteworthy in these studies. A first, which extends scholarship from the eighties, deals with the impact of religious discourses on the patriarchal, postcolonial state. Such work ranges from feminist studies of Islamism to feminist work on the Christian inflection of much postcolonial state policy and ideology. Another strand explores the growing range and complexity of Islam, and often raises broad questions about the conventional dualism of the religious and the secular in relation to feminism. Here work by Margot Badran (1996) and Azza Karam (1997) has been especially noteworthy. A further trend is the detailed attention paid to the impact of African conversion on women, and to the gendering of Africanised Christian rituals and practices in Africa. Lastly, an important body of work has revolved around the role of women, for example as spirit mediums, in traditional African cosmologies and on the impact of women's traditional religious roles in contemporary religious rituals and systems.
Amadiume
(1998) has been highly influential in defining an indigenous feminist tradition
rooted in women's spiritual and secular powers in pre-colonial society. For
Amadiume and many who have drawn on her argument, what is noteworthy about this
tradition is the extent to which it provides an innovative and uniquely African-centred
base for exploring traditions of feminist practice and activism. It is significant
that this kind of work questions the western equation of political radicalism
with secularism. As Amadiume and other scholars who use similar paradigms show,
the religious and the secular are often more closely linked in non-western contexts,
with this nexus often leading to important adjustments in our assessment of
women's empowerment vis-à-vis their religious involvement and practices.
Amadiume, I. 1998. Re-Inventing Africa: Matriarchy, Religion and Culture. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Amadiume, I. 2000. Daughters of the Goddess, Daughters of Imperialism: African Women Struggle for Culture, Power and Democracy. New York: Zed Books.
Badran, M. 1996. Feminists, Islam and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.
Badran, M. 2001. Locating Feminisms: The Collapse of Secular and Religious Discourses in The Muslim Mashriq.” Agenda, 50:41-57.
Dunbar, R. 2000. "Muslim Women in African History", in Levtzion, N. and Pouwels, R. eds. The History of Islam in Africa. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
Gewecke, H. 1996. Women Carry More Than Half the Burden: Texts From a Workshop on the History of the Basel Mission and Its Partner-Churches in the 20th Century. Basel, Switzerland: Basel Mission. Texts and Documents 2.
Hackett, R. "Women and New Religious Movements in Africa", in King, U. ed. Religion and Gender. Oxford/Cambridge/ Massachusetts: Oxford University Press.
Hackett, R. 1998. "Art as Neglected 'Text' for the Study of Gender and Religion in Africa", in Marcos, S. and Hackett, R. eds. Religion and Gender: Recent Research. London: Academic Press.
Hill, H. 1996. "Witchcraft and the Gospel: Insights From Africa." Missiology, 24, 3:323–344.
Hoehler-Fatton, C. 1996. Women of Fire and Spirit: History, Faith, and Gender in Roho Religion in Western Kenya. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kalu, O. 1998. Daughters of Ethiopia: Gender, Power and Poverty in African Christianity. Cambridge, Great Britain: University of Cambridge, Currents in World Christianity. Position Paper 99.
Kanyoro, R. and Njoroge, N. Eds. 1996. Groaning in Faith: African Women in the Household of God. Nairobi: Acton Publishers. Papers From the Interfaith Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Kanyoro, R. 1997. "The Ordination of Women in Africa", in Kanyoro, R. ed. In Search of a Round Table: Gender, Theology and Church Leadership. Geneva: World Council of Churches (WCC) for the Lutheran World Federation.
Kasente, D. 1996. "Gender Studies and Gender Training in Africa." Development in Practice, 6 ,1:50–54.
Kimball, M. and Von Schlegell, B. 1997. Muslim Women Throughout the World: A Bibliography. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Kiura, J. and Moloney, M. 1998. Women's Dignity. Accra: Franciscan Publications.
Kapteijns, L. 1998. "New Studies on Women, Gender and Islam: Contextualizing and Historicizing Muslim Women's Lives." Canadian Journal of African Studies, 32, 3.
Karam, A. 1997. Women, Islamisms, and State: Contemporary Feminisms in Egypt. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Martey, E. 1998. "Women and Culture in Contemporary Africa", in Kemdirim, P. and Oduyoye, M. eds. Women, Culture and Theological Education. Enugu, Nigeria: West Africa Association of Theological Institutions (WAATI).
Mbuy-Beya, M. 1996. "Women in the Churches in Africa", in Browne, M. ed. African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1996. Women's Rebellion and Islamic Memory. London: Zed Books.
Mghwira, A. 1997. "African Women and Lutheran Tradition", in Kanyoro, R. ed. In Search of a Round Table: Gender, Theology and Church Leadership. Geneva: World Council of Churches (WCC) for the Lutheran World Federation.
Mwaura, P. N. 1999. "Women in the Democratization Process", in Magesa, L. and Nthamburi, Z. eds. Democracy and Reconciliation: A Challenge for African Christianity. Nairobi: Acton Publishers.
Oduyoye, M. 2001. Introducing African Women's Theology. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.
Ruether, R. Ed. 1996. Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Tinkasimire, T. 2002. “Women’s Contributions to Religious Institutions in Uganda”, in Tripp, A. and Kwesiga, J. eds. The Women’s Movement in Uganda: History, Challenges and Prospects. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
Tomasi, I. 2000. A Love Stronger Than Death: Women Who Gave Their Lives for Africa. Nairobi: Paulines Publications. Challenge Series 7.