Religion and Gender in Africa: A Pan-African Exploration

Dear Colleagues,

Religion and gender in Africa are intertwined and interconnected. As described by a renowned African theologian, John S. Mbiti, in his book, African Philosophy and Religious Studies (1969, p. 1), “Africans are notoriously religious”. This argument implies that religion is a powerful force in human behavior. Its influence is experienced in cultural norms and behavior in general. As a social factor, religion informs and legitimizes the social construction of behavior. It endorses attitudes that have significant implications for gender status and roles. The complex relationship between religion and gender is often misunderstood, because religion operates as a double-edged sword that can affirm and undermine behaviors that can be both positive and negative for human flourishing. As a force that draws upon the sacred, religion is powerful because of its divine origin, which means that it often goes unquestioned. It is often accepted by faith as fact. In his book, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973, p. 90), Clifford Geertz describes religion as a cultural system that establishes powerful moods and motivations in people by clothing beliefs and concepts with an aura of factuality. The power of religion lies in its being perceived as real by its believers. It is this powerful influence on behavior that Peter Berger discusses in his Sacred Canopy, where he defines the religious force as central to the construction of human activity (1990). This journal draws on this central characteristic of religion to explore how it shapes the experience of African people.

As a social construct, gender is a significant factor in the human experience, and most societies turn to gender to construct roles and status. In Africa, gender is intertwined with religious values. As described by a renowned African feminist theologian, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, in Daughters of Anowa, African women are “religious chief clients” (2005, 109). In other words, just as gender in Africa is expressed in demographic terms, gender construction is also shaped by cultural norms. Such norms can elevate or devalue individual status and roles in society. Gender norms reveal dynamics that affirm or undermine human flourishing. Just as an empowering gendered theology of disability can affirm the experiences of people with disabilities on a continent, a disempowering gendered theology of disability can undermine the experiences of people with disabilities. This journal aims to examine how religion or theology intersect with gender to empower or undermine gender experience. It seeks to highlight how intersectionality is expressed in gender across the diverse African experience.

Pan-Africanism, an ideology that centers the African experience, encourages intellectual discourse, analytical research, and advocacy that affirm unity, solidarity, and social justice. As an ideological framework, Pan-Africanism offers a means of deconstructing Eurocentric influence on African knowledge, experience, and general welfare. As an interdisciplinary framework, it advocates the unearthing of erased experiences, achievements, and accomplishments of people of African descent to highlight their contribution to knowledge. As a framework for promoting social justice, Pan-Africanism seeks to develop strategies that affirm positive human experiences, such as democracy, unity, solidarity, and education, to ensure Afrocentric social progress. Gender equality is central to Pan-Africanism in that it affirms the experiences of African women, grounded in values such as ubuntu. It acknowledges complementarity; a virtue African people embrace. It seeks to recognize women’s status and role in society. The objective of this journal is to highlight how Pan-Africanism is informed by religion and gender, and how it promotes gendered strategies that affirm and empower the experiences of African women. The intersection of religion, gender, and Pan-Africanism is significant because Pan-Africanism offers a framework for exploring strategies for human flourishing.

The editors of this journal are pleased to invite you to submit articles that explore the intersection of religion, gender, and Pan-Africanism. We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, “Religion and Gender in Africa: A Pan-African Exploration” by invoking theories, methodologies, and case studies that interrogate the intersection of religion, gender, and Pan-Africanism in Africa. To proceed, please submit an abstract of your proposed article. Following approval, you will be invited to prepare a full paper for potential publication in this journal upon completion of the peer review process. This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and reviews. Potential research areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Religion;
• Gender;
• Pan-Africanism;
• Africa;
• Theology;
• Diaspora;
• Ethiopianism;
• African-initiated religions.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send the title and abstract to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Bella Xu (bella.xu@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References:

Berger, Peter. 1990. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Basic Books

Mbiti, John S. 1969. African Philosophy and Religious Studies, Heinemann

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic Books

Oduyoye, Mercy Amba. 2005. Daughters of Anowa, Orbis Books

Prof. Dr. Mary Nyangweso
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• religion
• gender
• Pan-Africanism
• Africa
• theology
• diaspora
• Ethiopianism