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Routledge Studies in African Philosophy
FEMINIST AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
WOMEN AND THE POLITICS OF DIFFERENCE
Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola
Feminist African Philosophy
The book argues that women’s perspectives and gender issues must be main-
streamed across African philosophy in order for the discipline to truly repre-
sent the thoughts of Africans across the continent.
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 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 androcentric nature of 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 sex, sexuality, rape,
motherhood, prostitution, and the low participation of women in politics.
By highlighting the work of women feminist scholars such as Oyeronke
Oyewumi, Nkiru Nzegwu, Ifi Amadiume, Amina Mama, and Bibi Bakare-
Yusuf, the book engages with African philosophy from an African feminist
viewpoint. This book will be an essential resource for students and research-
ers of African philosophy and gender studies.
Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola is a Senior Lecturer, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria, and a Postdoctoral Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt, at Katholische
Universität, Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany (2020-2023).
Routledge Studies in African Philosophy
African Philosophy and the Otherness of Albinism
White Skin, Black Race
Elvis Imafidon
Africanizing African Legal Ethics
John Murungi
Consolationism and Comparative African Philosophy
Beyond Universalism and Particularism
Ada Agada
Futurism and the African Imagination
Literature and Other Arts
Edited by Dike Okoro
Critical Conversations in African Philosophy
Asixoxe - Let’s Talk
Edited by Alena Rettová, Benedetta Lanfranchi and Miriam Pahl
Environmental Justice in African Philosophy
Munamato Chemhuru
Feminist African Philosophy
Women and the Politics of Difference
Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola
Kimmerle’s Intercultural Philosophy and Beyond
The Ongoing Quest for Epistemic Justice
Renate Schepen
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/Routledge-Studies-in-African-Philosophy/book-series/AFRPHIL
Feminist African Philosophy
Women and the Politics of Difference
Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola
The right of Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ipadeola, Abosede Priscilla, author.
Title: Feminist African philosophy : women and the politics of difference /
Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Series: Routledge studies in
African philosophy | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022008499 (print) | LCCN 2022008500 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032131306 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032131313 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003227809 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Feminist theory--Africa. | Feminism--Africa.
Classification: LCC HQ1191.A47 I73 2023 (print) | LCC HQ1191.A47 (ebook)
| DDC 305.4201--dc23/eng/20220330
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022008499
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022008500
ISBN: 978-1-032-13130-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-13131-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-22780-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003227809
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
This book is dedicated to all past, present,
and future women of African descent,
both on the continent and in the diaspora.
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgments xiv
Introduction: The Necessity of Philosophy on the Continent 1
PART I
1 What Is This Thing Called African Philosophy? 17
2 Feminist Scholarship in Africa: How Far Have
We Really Come? 50
3 African Philosophy and the Shackles of Androcentrism 69
4 Mainstreaming Gender Issues in African Philosophy:
A Decolonization Effort 92
PART II
5 African Women, Illogicality, and Epistemic Tyranny 109
6 African Women as Moral Agents and Judges 117
7 Women as Metaphysical Figures in Traditional
and Contemporary Africa 129
8 Women, Marginalization, and African Political Theories 144
Conclusion: From Episteme to Doxa: The Imperative
of a Gender-Balanced Discourse in Contemporary Africa 158
Index 163
Preface
In some respects, the history of African philosophy can be perceived as a rather
complicated one because there have been so many controversies about it over
the years. As a matter of fact, African philosophy might be best described as
an attempt by African peoples to define and share what they have learned
about reality, morality, politics, knowledge, reasonableness, truth, and expe-
rience in a way that contributes to an understanding of human existence from
viewpoints that are their own as members of the human race. Since humans
are rational beings, they are constantly interpreting and reinterpreting their
experiences, existence, and the world around them in an attempt to make
sense of it all. It is undeniable that this is one of the many ways that humans
have skillfully coped, throughout history and to this day, with existing amid
the vast array of possibilities known as the universe, which can, at times, be
perceived in comforting, orderly ways, at other times, as chaotic, disastrous,
or even terrifying in its extremes. Having the ability to comprehend the
complexity of the world and be able to manage it in a way that only humans
with high levels of intellect can do successfully, has been regarded as one of
the hallmarks of humanity. In other words, just being a featherless biped does
not satisfy the requirement for proving that a being is human and that they
ought to be accorded the respect, esteem, and dignity that those who have
offered this evidence have been proven to possess.
A key element of African philosophy, in this regard, has been to demon-
strate the fact that Africans cannot be relegated because they, like other
humans, have contributed tremendously to the advancement of knowledge
and understanding of the universe to make it a more enjoyable place for
humans and other life forms on this planet and elsewhere in the universe. As
a result, there are volumes written about African philosophy, which address
a wide range of topics. Some of these include knowledge, reality, reason-
ing, morality, politics, the future, art, beauty, crime, punishment, and many
more. Even so, despite the claim that African philosophy should be taken as
a representative of all people of African descent, an argument made in this
book is that women are marginalized in certain fundamental ways when
it comes to issues of interest in African philosophy. There is no doubt that
Preface ix
in order to have an African philosophy that reflects the aspirations of all
Africans, the issue of gender equality must be considered.
This book’s central purpose is to establish a philosophical critique and
reconstruction of African philosophy using gender as a parameter to do so.
By virtue of its emergence as a discipline, African philosophy is supposed
to be a voice for all African peoples who have become voiceless because of
unfortunate experiences such as colonization and slavery. Except for trans-
atlantic slavery, colonization was one phenomenon that radically altered the
outlook, history, and future of the African continent. Therefore, African
philosophy emerged as an Afrocentric response to Western philosophers and
anthropologists, who believed that Africans lack rationality and the capacity
for philosophizing. A few of the most prominent thinkers of this generation
include the renowned modern philosopher WGF Hegel as well as anthropol-
ogist Lucien Levy-Bruhl. There are many notable scholars in history, such as
these two, who provided the foundation for Europeans to prove their supe-
riority over people of non-European origins, including Africans. Later it was
argued by Africans who had been trained in Western philosophy that this
view was a result of the antipathy toward Africa and Western hegemony on
the one hand, and the paucity of studies depicting indigenous African ideas
about knowledge, reality, truth, politics, economy, medicine, and morality
on the other.
To prove to the West that Africans were engaged in making sense of their
existence and experiences long before colonizers arrived on the continent,
African philosophy as a discipline was established. It is not a subject of much
controversy among those Africans who were formally trained in Western
philosophy, that there is an African philosophy. The bone of contention,
however, has always been the question of what exactly constitutes African
philosophy or what its meaning is. Generally, African philosophy, like other
Africanist discourses, has attempted to respond to the ambivalent attitude of
Western scholars towards African scholarship by engaging in five main tasks:
(i) To challenge Western and Eurocentric hegemonies. According to Oruka,
sage philosophy, which is considered to be one of the “pillars” or trends in
African philosophy, “started as a reaction to a position Europeans adopted
about Africa that Africans are not capable of philosophy” (Oruka 1997, 181).
It is also the objective of this project to sincerely implement decolonization,
self-recovery, and self-definition. “The principal driving force in postcolonial
African philosophy has been a quest for self-definition” (Wiredu 2004, 1).
The invention of African philosophy in Anglophone Africa, according to
Osha, is attributable to two factors: the “quest to establish modern African
modes of being on the one hand, and the project of dismantling the edifice
of colonialism on the other” (Osha 2017, 38). (iii) To contribute to world
discourses from the standpoint of Africa. (iv) To express unequivocally the
African perspectives on topical local and global philosophical issues so as to
avoid distortions and misinterpretations. (v) To chart the course of sustainable
