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Reimagining African womanhood in an unjust world order: exploring the writings of Ghanaian women’s rights advocates, 1970s–1980s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2023

Mélanie Lindbjerg Machado-Guichon
Mélanie Lindbjerg Machado-Guichon*
Affiliation:
Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article provides the first systematic exploration of the ideas on inequality of the two Ghanaian women’s rights advocates Annie Jiagge and Florence Dolphyne, who were both part of the Ghanaian National Council on Women and Development during the 1970s and 1980s. Zooming in on their work and writings during this time, I challenge the view offered by some scholars that these decades were ‘apolitical’ and shaped by ‘quiet activism’ with regard to the Ghanaian women’s front. I show how Jiagge and Dolphyne actively rearticulated womanhood in postcolonial Ghanaian and African societies, placing women’s ‘issues’ and rights within the framework of an unequal world order. In doing so, I argue that they vernacularized the contemporary global discourse on women’s rights, shaped by the UN Decade for Women (1976–85), in a Ghanaian context, evoking what postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha has called an in-between ‘third space’ through which the many intersecting and ambivalent aspects affecting the lives of women in postcolonial Africa, and the so-called Third World at large, could be articulated.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article fournit la première exploration systématique des idées sur l’inégalité d’Annie Jiagge et Florence Dolphyne, défenseuses des droits des femmes ghanéennes, toutes deux membres du Conseil national ghanéen pour la femme et le développement dans les années 1970 et 1980. S’intéressant à leur travail et à leurs écrits au cours de cette période, l’auteur remet en cause l’opinion de certains chercheurs selon laquelle ces décennies auraient été « apolitiques » et façonnées par un « activisme silencieux » concernant le front des femmes ghanéennes. Il montre comment Jiagge et Dolphyne ont activement réarticulé la condition féminine dans les sociétés ghanéennes et africaines postcoloniales, en plaçant les questions et les droits des femmes dans le cadre d’un ordre mondial inégalitaire. Ce faisant, l’auteur soutient qu’elles ont vernacularisé le discours mondial contemporain sur les droits des femmes, influencé par la Décennie des Nations Unies pour la femme (1976–1985), dans un contexte ghanéen, en évoquant ce que le théoricien postcolonial Homi Bhabha a appelé un « troisième espace » intermédiaire à travers lequel pourraient s’articuler les nombreux aspects entrecroisés et ambivalents affectant la vie des femmes en Afrique postcoloniale, et dans le soi-disant Tiers-Monde.

Resumo

Resumo

Este artigo apresenta a primeira exploração sistemática das ideias sobre desigualdade de duas defensoras dos direitos das mulheres ganenses Annie Jiagge e Florence Dolphyne, que fizeram ambas parte do Conselho Nacional Ganense sobre Mulheres e Desenvolvimento durante as décadas de 1970 e 1980. Fazendo zoom sobre o seu trabalho e escritos durante este período, desafio a perspectiva exposta por alguns estudiosos de que estas décadas foram ‘apolíticas’ e moldadas pelo ‘activismo silencioso’ em relação à frente da mulher ganesa. Mostro como Jiagge e Dolphyne rearticularam activamente a feminilidade nas sociedades ganesas e africanas pós-coloniais, colocando as ‘questões’ e direitos das mulheres no quadro de uma ordem mundial desigual. Ao fazê-lo, defendo que vernacularizaram o discurso global contemporâneo sobre os direitos da mulher, moldado pela Década das Nações Unidas para a Mulher (1976–85), num contexto ganês, evocando o que o teórico pós-colonial Homi Bhabha chamou de ‘terceiro espaço’, através do qual os muitos aspectos intersectantes e ambivalentes que afectam as vidas das mulheres na África pós-colonial, e o chamado Terceiro Mundo em geral, poderiam ser articulados.

Type
Ghanaian women’s rights advocates
Information
Africa , Volume 93 , Issue 2 , May 2023 , pp. 273 - 292
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute

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