Essential Amadiume – serie

Winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the YearIn 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume wrote Male Daughters, Female Husbands to critical acclaim. Here Amadiume boldly argues that the notion of gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. This new Essential Amadiume edition illustrates for a new generation of readers the specifically Western origins of the gender essentialisms to which much current gender theory reacts. In showing how those notions have been projected onto other cultures through colonialism, and in exploring traditional west African practices that conceive of gender otherwise, it re-opens other alternatives to them.

Winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the YearIn 1987, more than a decade before the dawn of queer theory, Ifi Amadiume wrote Male Daughters, Female Husbands to critical acclaim. Here Amadiume boldly argues that the notion of gender, as constructed in Western feminist discourse, did not exist in Africa before the colonial imposition of a dichotomous understanding of sexual difference. This new Essential Amadiume edition illustrates for a new generation of readers the specifically Western origins of the gender essentialisms to which much current gender theory reacts. In showing how those notions have been projected onto other cultures through colonialism, and in exploring traditional west African practices that conceive of gender otherwise, it re-opens other alternatives to them.

Ifi Adadiume contrasts the collectivist, humanist culture of traditional African matriarchal heritage with the corrupt and oppressive culture of the imperialism that is the heritage of contemporary elite-led women's organizations. Amadiume examines the activities of such organizations in Nigeria, making comparisons with those in Britain and South Africa as well as in international movements; looking at Beijing International Women‘s Conferences, she explores internationalism as an instrument of class reproduction.Here Amadiume provides a detailed account of the structures and workings of local government in Nigeria and Britain as she raises theoretical and policy issues about civic groups, civil society and the nature of the late twentieth-century state. Finally, she draws lessons from her own experiences working in local government to suggest measures for true gender equity and the democratisation of politics in our increasingly multicultural and multiethnic societies. Bringing Amadiume's groundbreaking insights to a new generation of readers, this Essential Amadiume edition asks hard questions of modern feminist movements that are still too-often sidelined in Western-centric debates.

Ifi Adadiume contrasts the collectivist, humanist culture of traditional African matriarchal heritage with the corrupt and oppressive culture of the imperialism that is the heritage of contemporary elite-led women's organizations. Amadiume examines the activities of such organizations in Nigeria, making comparisons with those in Britain and South Africa as well as in international movements; looking at Beijing International Women‘s Conferences, she explores internationalism as an instrument of class reproduction.Here Amadiume provides a detailed account of the structures and workings of local government in Nigeria and Britain as she raises theoretical and policy issues about civic groups, civil society and the nature of the late twentieth-century state. Finally, she draws lessons from her own experiences working in local government to suggest measures for true gender equity and the democratisation of politics in our increasingly multicultural and multiethnic societies. Bringing Amadiume's groundbreaking insights to a new generation of readers, this Essential Amadiume edition asks hard questions of modern feminist movements that are still too-often sidelined in Western-centric debates.

Now in this Essential Amadiume edition designed to bring Amadiume's groundbreaking ideas to a new generation of readers, this extraordinary book issues a clarion call for a new understanding of Africa, one made and written by Africans. Here Amadiume issues a seminal challenge to Western anthropologists to recognize their own complicity in producing a version of Africa that is often little more than a reflection of their own class-based, patriarchal thought.Amadiume explores how imperialism, violence, patriarchy and class-based social structures - originally imposed by colonialism - have become internalized to result in a contemporary Africa cursed with neo-colonial states. She uncovers the hidden matriarchal history of Africa, which continues to empower women in political struggle throughout the continent. She looks at the masculinization of indigenous African religions, effected largely by the imposition of Christianity and Islam. Ultimately, she provides a guide to the main Afro-centric social theorists, writing a new social history of their continent.Dedicated to the diasporic African communities in their struggle to construct alternative, anti-racist and anti-imperialist epistemologies of self-representation and self-generated ideals, this is a radical vision of Africa from the powerful voice of an African woman.