Africa: Call for papers - African Feminisms

Agenda is a feminist media project based in South Africa. One of our projects is the production of a quarterly journal ‘Agenda: Empowering women for Gender Equity on issues of women and gender in Africa’. We have embarked on a three-part journal series - one per year from 2001 to 2003 - entitled ‘African Feminisms’. The purpose of this series is to open up theoretical debate about the nature and condition of gender analysis and activism or women’s organisations in Africa and among African peoples.

African Feminisms: Oxymoron? Improper nomenclature? Western
Imperialism? Elitist? The battles of African women? The battles of
African men?

Agenda is a feminist media project based in South Africa. One of our
projects is the production of a quarterly journal Agenda: Empowering
women for Gender Equity on issues of women and gender in Africa.

We have embarked on a three-part journal series - one per year from
2001 to 2003 - entitled 'African Feminisms'. The purpose of this
series is to open up theoretical debate about the nature and
condition of gender analysis and activism or women's organisation in
Africa and among African peoples.

The first in the series (2001) located these debates within South
Africa. The imminent issue aims to open the debates up Africa
(2002). The third (2003) will engage with the African 'diasporas'
and African gender analysis and activism in the global.

We are seeking writing for 2002 issue. We want writings that in some
way engage with debates around the nature and condition of gender
analysis, theory and activism or women's organisation on the African
continent. For instance:

* What is African feminism(s)? Is there such a thing?

* Does the conjuncture of words African and feminism(s) make sense?
What is African and what is feminism and what do they mean when
they are placed together? Is this improper nomenclature, or an
oxymoron?

* Are gender and feminism valid analytical concepts to apply to
Africa?

* What are the relations between 'African feminism' or
women/gender struggles and western feminism - historically, and
today?

* What counts as an African woman? Ethnically African;
Ugandan or Congolese? A fourth generation Indian or European South
African or Zimbabwean? What is Africa?

* What are the relations between gender/gender struggles in various
parts of Africa?

* What is the relation of 'African Feminism' to men? Are the
struggles women 's struggles, or gender struggles, including men
and women?

* What are the relations between the struggles around gender and of
women in Africa to racism, imperialism, neo-colonialism,
globalisation, African Union etc?

* Is 'African feminisms' something elitist, a debate among the
African elite, with no relevance to the majority of African women?

* What does contemporary women's/gender analysis or theory look like
in Africa, or your region of Africa?

* What does contemporary women's/gender activism look like in
Africa, or your region of Africa: at the level or government, civil
society, grassroots movements?

* Are these the wrong questions to be asking?

We deliberately want the issue to open up debates and allow for
multiplicity of voices. These sets of issues are thus
non-prescriptive. We invite writing in a variety of forms -
theoretical, an account of grassroots activism, personal narrative,
fiction and creative writing etc.

Deadlines for submission:

The deadline for abstracts / expression of interest is 31st July
2002. Please send abstracts for articles (maximum 6000 words) and
other contributions (maximum 4000 words) to [email protected]
Deadline for submission for submission of full text: 31st August
2002