Sylvia Tamale – författare

Among African countries, Uganda is unique in its affirmative action program for women. In the late 1980s, President Yoweri Museveni announced his belief that Uganda's successful development depended on increased gender equity and backed his opinions by setting several women-centered policies in motion, including a 1989 rule that at least 39 seats i

Among African countries, Uganda is unique in its affirmative action program for women. In the late 1980s, President Yoweri Museveni announced his belief that Uganda''s successful development depended on increased gender equity and backed his opinions by setting several women-centered policies in motion, including a 1989 rule that at least 39 seats in the Ugandan parliament be reserved for women.In this fascinating study, based on in-depth interviews with both male and female parliamentarians, women in nongovernmental organizations, and rural residents of Uganda, Sylvia Tamale explores how women''s participation in Ugandan politics has unfolded and what the impact has been for gender equity. The book examines how women have adapted their legislative strategies for empowerment in light of Uganda''s patriarchal history and social structure. The author also looks at the consequences and implications of women''s parliamentary participation as a result of affirmative action handed down by the president, rather than pushed up from a grassroots movement.Although focusing on Uganda, Tamale''s study is relevant to other African and non-African countries grappling with the twin challenges of democracy and development.

Among African countries, Uganda is unique in its affirmative action program for women. In the late 1980s, President Yoweri Museveni announced his belief that Uganda''s successful development depended on increased gender equity and backed his opinions by setting several women-centered policies in motion, including a 1989 rule that at least 39 seats in the Ugandan parliament be reserved for women.In this fascinating study, based on in-depth interviews with both male and female parliamentarians, women in nongovernmental organizations, and rural residents of Uganda, Sylvia Tamale explores how women''s participation in Ugandan politics has unfolded and what the impact has been for gender equity. The book examines how women have adapted their legislative strategies for empowerment in light of Uganda''s patriarchal history and social structure. The author also looks at the consequences and implications of women''s parliamentary participation as a result of affirmative action handed down by the president, rather than pushed up from a grassroots movement.Although focusing on Uganda, Tamale''s study is relevant to other African and non-African countries grappling with the twin challenges of democracy and development.

Among African countries, Uganda is unique in its affirmative action program for women. In the late 1980s, President Yoweri Museveni announced his belief that Uganda's successful development depended on increased gender equity and backed his opinions by setting several women-centreed policies in motion, including a 1989 rule that at least 39 seats in the Ugandan parliament be reserved for women.In this fascinating study, based on in-depth interviews with both male and female parliamentarians, women in nongovernmental organizations, and rural residents of Uganda, Sylvia Tamale explores how women's participation in Ugandan politics has unfolded and what the impact has been for gender equity. The book examines how women have adapted their legislative strategies for empowerment in light of Uganda's patriarchal history and social structure. The author also looks at the consequences and implications of women's parliamentary participation as a result of affirmative action handed down by the president, rather than pushed up from a grassroots movement.Although focusing on Uganda, Tamale's study is relevant to other African and non-African countries grappling with the twin challenges of democracy and development.

This groundbreaking volume, the first of its kind written by African activists themselves, aims to inspire a new generation of students and teachers to study, reflect and gain fresh and critical insights into the complex issues of gender and sexuality. It opens a space - particularly for young people - to think about African sexualities in different ways. This accessible but scholarly multidisciplinary text, from a distinctly African perspective, is built around themed sections each introduced by a framing essay. The authors use essays, case studies, poetry, news clips, songs, fiction, memoirs, letters, interviews, short film scripts and photographs from a wide political spectrum to examine dominant and deviant sexualities, analyse the body as a site of political, cultural and social contestation and investigate the intersections between sex, power, masculinities and femininities. The book adopts a feminist approach that analyses sexuality within patriarchal structures of oppression while also highlighting its emancipatory potential.As well as using popular culture to help address the 'what, why, how, when and where' questions, the contributors also provide a critical mapping of African sexualities that informs readers about the plurality and complexities of African sexualities - desires, practices, fantasies, identities, taboos, abuses, violations, stigmas, transgressions and sanctions. At the same time, they pose gender-sensitive and politically aware questions that challenge the reader to interrogate assumptions and hegemonic sexuality discourses, thereby unmapping the intricate and complex terrain of African sexualities.The blend of approaches and styles enhances the book's accessibility and usefulness for teaching as well as allowing for historical and textual contextualisation.Authors include scholars, researchers, professionals, practitioners and experts from different regions of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora.

Why do so many Africans believe they cannot break the 'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back' cycle? Six decades after colonial flags were lowered and African countries gained formal independence, the continent struggles to free itself from the deep legacies of colonialism, imperialism and patriarchy. Many intellectuals, politicians, feminists and other activists, eager to contribute to Africa's liberation, have frustratingly, felt like they took the wrong path. Analyzed through the eyes of Afro-feminism, this book revisits some of the fundamental preconditions needed for radical transformation. The main focus of Decolonization and Afro-feminism is unlearning imperial power relations by relearning to 'shake off' the colonial filters through which we view the world, including the instruments of law, education, religion, family and sexuality. It re-envisions Pan-Africanism as a more inclusive decolonizing/decolonial movement that embraces Afro-feminist politics. It also challenges the traditional human rights paradigm and its concomitant idea of 'gender equality,' flagging instead, the African philosophy of Ubuntu as a serious alternative for reinvigorating African notions of social justice. If you are a student of Africa or in a space where you wish to recalibrate your compass and reboot your consciousness in the struggle for Africa's liberation, this book is for you. Sylvia Tamale's Decolonization and Afro-Feminism makes a compelling case for unlearning imperial power relations by 'shaking off' the colonial filters through which we view the world. This process, she argues, is a process of relearning that re-envisions Pan-Africanism as a more inclusive decolonizing/decolonial movement that embraces afro-feminist politics. Tamale also challenges the traditional human rights paradigm and its concomitant idea of 'gender equality,' flagging instead the African philosophy of Ubuntu as a serious alternative for reinvigorating African notions of social justice.