Book Description

Beyond our Imaginations: African Women’s Realities is the product of dialogues on Gender and Feminism in the region of Africa. It is the first in the series “Feminism Visions of Society.” The book provides a balanced review of Western and West African theories and of participatory methodologies paying particular attention to the exclusion of grassroots feminism from the growing body of knowledge and action. It builds on existing essentialist theorizing without disregarding the overlaps with feminism in other cultures. Cultural knowledge is extended in discussions of grassroots women’s loss of power and voice through changing gender images; the declining culture of the Deitification of Motherhood; Women’s Leadership in Modern Markets; Female Traditional Rulership; and Women’s Influence in Community Development and Peace Building. This book helps to understand why too often there are gaps between theory and the policies designed to improve African Women’s lives. There is also a repertoire of qualitative data about feminist practices and strategies at the household level, in the workplace, and the political domains as part of the patriarchal bargain in African cultures. While the collection celebrates the importance of the imagination in building feminist knowledge, it takes a more cautionary stand, calls for methodological flexibility and sophistication as African scholars expand feminist knowledge.