This book introduces readers to the rich and diverse experiences of women across the African continent, covering their socio-cultural, political, and economic realities from the precolonial era right up to the modern day.

In many precolonial African societies, women were empowered and considered to be important participants in the social structures and political systems that managed their communities, but during the colonial era, women were often marginalized. Now, across the continent, women are reasserting their agency. This book explores the various ways in which gender has been constructed in different African cultures across history and how this has impacted the lived experiences of women. The book encompasses a broad range of topics, including history, health, sexualities, gender-based violence, motherhood, education, economic activities, science and technology, religion, popular culture, politics, peacebuilding, feminism, literature, social media, and migration. Engaging and compelling, this book invites us to think again about the changing roles, identities, and contributions of African women across time and space.

It is the perfect introduction for any student of gender or African studies, as well as for anyone looking for a reader-friendly guide to the subject.

About the Author

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Falola has published over a hundred books and is the recipient of twenty honorary doctorates as well as several lifetime achievement awards.

Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso is Associate Professor of African and African American Studies at Brandeis University, USA and Vice-President of the International Studies Association (ISA, 2024-25). She is the co-editor of the three-volume Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies (2021), and has published several other books on African women, gender, refugees, and knowledge production in Africa.

Reviews

"A groundbreaking and much awaited book, Women in Africa is comprehensive in coverage, interdisciplinary in content, and profound in study. The authors celebrate the women of Africa through a careful insider exploration of the rich and powerful religious, historical, sociological and political agency of these women. In so doing, they weave a unique link between the past and the present in the status and lives of these women and open the study on the future of women's studies. A remarkable achievement that grabs the reader's attention throughout the book and centers the complex facets of African women's lives in the issues that matter in African and global studies."

Fatima Sadiqi, Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes, Morocco.

"All-encompassing and compelling exposition about Women in Africa, justifying their study, the way they should be studied and perceived, from precolonial period to contemporary times; fascinatingly, covering the struggles of women over different countries, cultures, spheres of activity and proffering imaginative ideas on bridging the gender gap in Africa."

Antonia Taiye Simbine, Research Professor and Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Nigeria.

"Women in Africa is an indispensable resource for students of Africa. This volume offers a comprehensive exploration of African women's lives, experiences, and contributions in shaping African history, politics, and society."

Aili Mari Tripp, Vilas Research Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Book Information
ISBN 9781032117973
Author Toyin Falola
Format Paperback
Page Count 642
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd