Re-inventing Africa: Matriarchy, Religion And Culture

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E-Book Overview

This extraordinary book issues a clarion call for a new understanding of Africa. The author of the best-selling Male Daughters/Female Husbands here issues a 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.Professor Amadiume calls instead for a new history of Africa, made and written by Africans. This is such a book.The book* 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.* uncovers the hidden matriarchal history of Africa which continues to empower women in political struggle throughout the continent* looks at the masculinization of indigenous African religions, effected largely by the imposition of Christianity and Islam* 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 the beginning of a new vision of Africa, from the powerful voice of an African woman.

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E-Book Information

• Year: 1,998

• Pages: 320

• Pages In File: 221

• Language: English

• Topic: 205

• Issue: до 2011-01

• Identifier: 1856495345,9781856495349

• Ddc: 305.3/096

• Lcc: GN645 .A448 1997

• Org File Size: 22,939,257

• Extension: pdf

• Toc: About the author ......Page 1Contents ......Page 4Acknowledgements ......Page 5Preface ......Page 6Introduction: Writing Africa: African social history and the sociology of history ......Page 10Part One: Re-writing History ......Page 361 The matriarchal roots of Africa ......Page 372 Race and gender: Cheikh Anta Diop's moral philosophy ......Page 603 Theorizing matriarchy in Africa: kinship ideologies and systems in Africa and Europe ......Page 794 Women's achievements in African politican systems: transforming culture for 500 years ......Page 975 Gender and social movements in Africa: a West African experience ......Page 1176 Gender and the contestation of religion: a historical perspective on African societies ......Page 152Part Two: Decolonizing History ......Page 1677 African women and politics: a history of transformation ......Page 1688 Cycles of Western imperialism: feminism, race, gender, class and power ......Page 1909 In the company of women: love, struggle, class and our feminisms ......Page 206Index ......Page 215