Creating an African-centered Experience in Gender and Development
By Ange Asanzi
THE POLITICS OF LOVE AND SEXUALITY | This essay is part of out August 2021 issue that looks at the ever changing landscape of conventional concepts of sexuality and sexual health in African nations. Strides have been made in some spheres, However it is undeniable that various aspects of love and sexuality continue to have real consequences on the lives of Africans.
During my time in the non-profit world, I came across many organisations, some with headquarters in the global north, who thrived on the stereotype that Africans have low agency, our governments are corrupt, our leaders are greedy, our women are powerless, oppressed and burdened with many children. Somehow, I also bought into these ideas and believed that Congolese women were oppressed by the system, by their leaders and by men in society. Little did I know that if they were oppressed by these systems, so was I, so were all of us. As African women, we have been theorised by everybody else but ourselves, thus it is important to initiate and continue dialogues with African women in the continent or diaspora on how best to define ourselves and our experiences. An understanding of the realities of African women will forge a shared experience that is critical to understanding and crafting narratives and theories of gender related topics specific to Africa.
It is very common to see research conducted in the global north on issues that affect people in the global south. Knowledge is historically generated and shaped by powerful institutions. Historically, African women have been excluded from positions of power or knowledge generation. Knowledge is also attributed to a material reality, which is based on economic advantage and political power, which we often do not have. In my home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, we find evidence of this during colonisation, where Congolese women lived at the margin of the colonial society and the economy. However, despite these limitations, I believe that Congolese women have created their own safe spaces and identities to resist dominant ideologies that keep them subjugated.
THE IMAGE OF AFRICAN WOMEN
The work of Women of Color feminists and writers such as Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Patricia Hill Collins, Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Amina Mama, Violet Eudine Barriteau, and Everjoice Win can help us create our own self definitions and an African centred experience in gender and development. The theories generated by Women of Color feminists or womanists are related to their experiences in the world, as queer, women, immigrants, scholars, activists, daughters, spouses and, mothers.
Everjoice Win, a Zimbabwean feminist activist, explains how the development world has thrived on the poor and powerless image of African women, burdened with children, and always carrying something on her back or head. However, this image is not a fair representation of all African women. My intention is not to create differences among African women, but to acknowledge that African women are not a homogenous group. There are many realities, and one single story is not representative of any human being. Win also explains that the poor and powerless image of the African woman is an inaccurate image and does not tell the full story of our lives. I recently came across a poem by a young Congolese woman - Ruth Maketa from the University of Kinshasa, in which she describes the different types and circumstances of Congolese women - the mother, the farmer, the businesswoman, the leader, the oppressed, and the liberated. Therefore, we need to challenge the institutions or people who view us as just victims. As Chandra Talpade Mohanty suggests, the stereotypes of women give the perception that we are immature, and as a result we need to be educated and trained. This situation reinforces the urgency of representing ourselves and decolonizing knowledge. And since we are one of the largest recipients of development initiatives, we ought to create a space, not at the margin but at the center where our knowledge and aspirations will be fully considered, and also use our unique positionality, our fluid identities to tell our stories and work on issues that concern us.
Violet Eudine Barriteau wrote an article published in the book “Still Brave”, discussing the relevance of Black Feminist scholarship. She explains that Black feminism facilitates a process of creating knowledge for all women, and particularly women of color. Black feminism is the active response to intersecting oppression, however the purpose of Black feminist thought is to resist oppression, both in practices and ideologies. Although Black feminist thought was developed within a specific social injustice context sustained by intersecting oppression, and with the purpose of empowering African American women, Black feminism as a social project shares a lot of commonalities with other social projects in developing countries. For example, the issues faced by African American women is similar to the issues that African women face, we encounter the same social issues such as poverty, violence, lack of formal education, sex work, vulnerability to diseases and reproductive concerns. She also explains that Black feminism has not been used enough to produce knowledge and theory that could help understand the experiences of Caribbean and African women.
PROMOTING AN AFRICAN CENTERED EXPERIENCE
Collins’ description of empowerment enlightens my understanding of the importance of creating independent self-definitions. Collins explains that a group of people can gain power to dominate others; yet she articulates that this is not the kind of empowerment she found among US Black women’s thinking. Empowerment cannot happen without having an idea of what needs to be changed.
Although the writing of Collins is focused on US black women, I believe that African women should also foster self-definitions and independence and stop relying on others to lift us. Empowerment is about becoming self-reliant, it is about having the ability to use the powers that we have (for example as mothers, caregivers, teachers, academics, researchers, writers and so on) to cultivate powerful channels of political actions. Empowerment is also about women’s activism and self-determination.
In the world of development, donor organisations and institutions in higher income countries still hold the power to define or conceptualise women empowerment. The recipients of development projects in Africa 7b have little power to influence the power arrangements or how they are perceived by others. However, the power to self-define can create an African centered experience that would change the outcome of development projects. In practice this would mean giving up short term benefits for long term goals. It may also require letting go of projects that make us more dependent to western countries and reduce our agency as a people.
The best salespeople I have met were in Kinshasa, particularly at “the Ngobila market” where women traders sell African fabrics. We ought to write more about these women and others who have been misrepresented and together elevate our voices and create an African-centered narrative.
Ange Asanzi is a PhD student from the University of Florida. In 2021 she obtained a Master in Sustainable Development Practice. Prior to joining UF, Ange worked with the Non-profit organization International Rivers on strengthening grassroots movements and developing resource materials on energy, resettlement issues, freshwater ecosystem and gender.
The experience at International Rivers helped foster her commitment to social justice, strengthening grassroots movements and livelihood opportunities particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), her country of origin.