Africa and African Diaspora Feminism

African feminism draws much of its inspiration from historical, anthropological, and political evidence of African women's leadership, of women's mobilizations, and of dynamic and disparate gender relations. The diversity of contemporary African articulations of feminism can be found in a number of periodicals that have carried lengthy discussions on feminism and gender theory. Notable examples include the South African Agenda, "a feminist media project in Africa committed to giving women a forum, a voice and the skills to articulate their needs and interests towards transforming unequal gender relations," and the continental gender studies journal Feminist Africa, which "seeks to provide a platform for cutting edge, informative and provocative gender work attuned to African agendas … a forum for the publication and dissemination of high-quality feminist scholarship in African contexts."

These publications address the contemporary development of feminist thought in African contexts, locating it within the challenging economic, political, and cultural conditions that have given rise to a plethora of feminist struggles, ideas, and scholarship.

The conditions giving rise to feminism in Africa include the history of colonial rule and imperialism, women's involvement in nationalist struggles, and other social movements. Contemporary manifestations of feminist consciousness owe much to the particular and persistent harshness of the conditions under which most African women still live, conditions that in the early twenty-first century are widely being attributed to contemporary economic and political regimes, and the fascination with cultural restoration that many societies display when it comes to gender relations. While there are many feminist thinkers who valorize and defend aspects of African cultures, the majority are critical of the many patriarchal and abusive practices that Africans often justify in defense of "culture." Meanwhile, African cultures continue to be assailed by a complex combination of forces far more powerful than African feminist movements.