African Gender Equality Research Group

Traditional African societies, despite ongoing transformations, are marked by rigid divisions of gender roles, the subordination of women, and the normalisation of violence against women and girls. Yet, importantly, African societies are imbued with values and norms that present opportunities to nurture women’s empowerment and to negotiate gender equality. The African Gender Equality Research Group seeks to explore African and feminist philosophies surrounding norms, values, and power dynamics related to gender, as well as how these resonate with global values. Our goal is to discover, develop and share uniquely African cultural and intellectual resources for women’s empowerment in the hopes of contributing to both African and global discourse and advocacy on feminism and gender.

This research project seeks to examine African philosophies and cultural traditions within the framework of global values, thereby carving out intellectual and cultural resources for the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment across the continent. The project will rely heavily on African philosophies, African feminist philosophies, decoloniality, gender discourses, and Indigenous knowledge and discourses on women’s empowerment to develop a framework for analysis. The study aims to address socio-cultural, political, and economic obstacles to gender equality and dynamics while fostering the exchange of ideas between Africa and other regions and continents.

This study will explore traditional African communitarian philosophies and their value systems, as reflected in philosophies like Ubuntu from the Zulu of South Africa, Te Jaa Bunyeni (we are all one) of the Waala people of northern Ghana, and Onipa nua ne onipa (a human being is only related to another human) and Wo yonko da ne wo da (you sleep when your neighbour sleeps) from the Akan people of central Ghana, as well as Monyomiji (local women’s peacebuilding) in South Sudan. These and other human-centred philosophies prevalent throughout Africa embody ethical values such as respect for others, helpfulness, community engagement, shared responsibilities, care, and trust. While these values may not be exclusive to Africa, they serve as crucial avenues for investigating Indigenous cultural approaches to negotiating gender equality, empowering women, and safeguarding their rights throughout Africa.

Research questions

The main research goal of the African Gender Equality Research Group is to conduct cutting-edge research into African ethics, values, norms, and practices in the context of global values, in order to understand their potential for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment across Africa and the Global South more broadly. The group will seek to address the following specific questions:

• What traditional African ethical principles and values support African feminist philosophies, and how are they connected to global values?
• How can the ethics and values underpinning African feminist philosophies promote gender equality and women’s empowerment?
• What opportunities exist within African philosophical frameworks for empowering women and negotiating gender equality?
• In what ways do African perspectives on gender equality align with and reflect global ethics and values?
• What are the implications of local values and their imbrications with the global for theorising, policy, and advocacy on gender?

Methodology

The Ethics and Values of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa project will conduct primary research using decolonial theoretical perspectives, decolonial feminist epistemologies and qualitative research designs, such as critical feminist ethnography combined with critical realism and other philosophical methodologies. A decolonial feminist framework is crucial in understanding various axes of domination and the subtleties of gendered power dynamics in research, disrupting dominant power structures and narratives and empowering subaltern groups.

Data will be collected across four field sites in at least two countries, led by the research scientists who will work with the senior scientist in charge of the project. The field data will first be analysed to reflect the unique study contexts. Next, cross-cultural/settings analysis will be conducted to draw out resonances and points of departure as well as implications for global values.

The findings of the research will be disseminated through conference presentations and publication in the Journal of Global Value Inquiry. The African Gender Equality Research Group will host at least one annual conference in Ghana or another country to share research findings and validate them with key experts and scholars on African philosophy and feminism. These findings will serve as the basis for advocacy across the continent.

Research Project Leader

Prof. Constance Akurugu

Project Researchers

Betty Okot is Postdoctoral scholar on the Global Parenting Initiative (GPI) based at based at the Child Health and Development Centre (CHDC), College of Health Sciences, Makerere University (Uganda). She has a PhD in Sociology with a focus on culture and the social dimensions of land relations among the Acholi (Uganda). At CHDC, Betty offers research leadership and mentorship on the Families, Parenting and Child Health Programme especially supporting the Parenting for Respectability (PfR) intervention scale-up, and leads three research projects: Playful parenting and early learning in crisis contexts; Digital PfR scale-up; and the Disability Inclusive Parenting intervention. Betty has conducted interdisciplinary research in gender and women’s land rights, African cultural philosophies on gender, war and peace, conflict-sensitive education in crisis settings, prevention of violence against children in schools, the impact of Covid-19 on persons with disabilities, Ugandan-based refugees’ adherence to pandemic related restrictions, and positive parenting.