Feminist African Philosophy: Women and the Politics of Difference

The book argues that women’s perspectives and gender issues must be mainstreamed in African philosophy in order for the discipline to truly represent the thoughts and aspirations of Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. African philosophy as an academic discipline emerged as a direct challenge to Western and Eurocentric hegemonies. It sought to actualize the project of decolonization and to contribute African people's perspectives to global discourses. There has, however, been a dominance of male perspectives in this field of human knowledge. This book argues that African philosophy cannot claim to have liberated people of African descent from marginalization until the problem of androcentrism in African philosophy is addressed. Key concepts such as Ujamaa, Negritude, Ubuntu, Consciencism, and African Socialism are explored as they relate to African women’s lives or as models of inclu¬sion or exclusion from politics. In addition to offering a feminist critique of African philosophy, the book also discusses topics that have been consistently overlooked in African philosophy. These topics include gender, sexuality, rape, motherhood, sex work, female genital mutilation, virginity, widow inheritance, women and poverty, motherhood, domestic violence against women, polygyny, and women's low participation in politics.

Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola is a feminist African philosopher. She is a Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies, University of Hildesheim, Germany. Her research interests include African philosophy (especially feminist African philosophy), global political philosophy, Black feminist studies, epistemology, ethics, and postcolonial studies.