The writings show how gender relations have been constructed on the African continent and reflect the changes in approach and inquiry that have been brought about as the authors consider gender identities and difference in their work. Specific themes covered here include the contestation and representation of gender, femininity and masculinity: livelihoods and life ways: gender and religion, gender and culture: gender and governance.
Interdisciplinary reader demonstrates how widely feminist thinking has spread, how deeply it has shaken settled assumptions in the disciplines and how much new light it throws on contemporary controversies.This volume offers not only a reference manual to what we now know about gender relations as social forces but also gives impetus to future thinking in imaginative and utopian ways about questions of gender, power and knowledge. Each chapter explores contemporary questions and dilemmas in feminist theory and research, assessing the impacts of past research and feminist actions. Leading scholars discuss such topics as the state of women's and gender studies, feminist epistemology, cultural representations, globalization and the state, families, and work.