Search Results (891)

Neither women’s studies nor lesbian and gay studies offers an adequate theoretical or political base for disruptive scholarship. Reading and interpreting Southern African writers, especially Sindiwe Magona and Ngugi wa Thiong’o, promotes women’s studies as an academic and political approach to both gender and the erotic. Drawing on genealogies of rupture and intergenerational studies, we argue that the feminist is a positionality that must be widely available to challenge heterosexual perspectives and become a catalyst for audiences to engage in nuanced analyses of discourses on places and genres—narrative in particular—where memories are rearticulated and elaborated. This article explores how the narratives of Magona, Ngugi, and Soyinka inform and complicate the erasure, erosion, and amnesia that accompany contemporary imaginaries of what is re/membered. We challenge the tendency to evaluate African feminisms as only either oppressive or empowering and read the selected texts and their prototypical characters as dynamic embodiments that inform gendered spaces across both the attachments that people hold to particular gender identities and styles and recognising the punitive realities of dominant gender expectations. The article takes a positionality on the often troubled relationship between feminism and femininity, a critical but generous reading that highlights the potential for an affirmative orientation towards identity politics. This study utilises the theoretical lenses of border thinking and decolonial and African feminisms to interrogate matrifocal borderlands and the sociohistorical and cultural dis/continuities of being and becoming. We explore notions of the entanglement of motherhood, daughterhood, wifehood, and sisterhood as morphing identities. These are identities at the margins of political, sociocultural, and gender normativities in African literature. Magona’s “threshold people”, like Ngugi’s perfect nine, destabilise, disrupt, and refuse to be subordinated as they codify living differently in the in-between worlds. Magona, for instance, laminates the challenging discourse of contestation to map difficult, dangerous, and marginal spaces where women live at the borders of sociocultural, religious, ethnic, and gendered norms. These are spaces suffused with affective possibilities—defensiveness, shame, anxiety, anger, curiosity—and the women have to develop relational solidarities in negotiating hyper-visibilities or (in)visibilities within the 21st-century global south. Full article

Newborn screening initiatives have the potential to mitigate childhood morbidity in Africa, but they also have special ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) that are influenced by issues with the health system, cultural diversity, and limited resources. This scoping review explores the ELSI of newborn screening across Africa to identify key challenges, gaps, and future research needs. A systematic search identified 27 peer-reviewed studies published between 2008 and 2025, covering 12 African countries. Data were extracted on study characteristics, disease types, and ELSI dimensions from African Journals Online (AJOL), Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and BMJ Journals. Thematic analysis mapped recurring ethical, legal, and social concerns. Most studies examined ethical and social dimensions, while legal frameworks were rarely addressed. South Africa, Tanzania, and Ghana contributed the largest number of publications. Sickle cell disease (52%) and hearing screening (30%) were the dominant foci. Common ethical issues included informed consent, privacy, and justice; legal gaps centered on the absence of data protection and frameworks; and social concerns involved stigma, awareness, and cultural perceptions of hereditary disease. Ethical and social issues dominate NBS discourse in Africa, whereas legal oversight remains limited. To guarantee fair, reliable, and long-lasting newborn screening programs, national policy guidelines, community involvement, and context-specific ethical frameworks must be strengthened. Full article

João António de Aguiar was one of the most prolific Portuguese architect-planners of the twentieth century, producing an extensive body of work within the framework of the 1934 legislative reform. He employed Urban Development Plans as a key scientific and technical instrument for territorial intervention, both in mainland Portugal and in the overseas territories. Despite his significance, Aguiar’s contribution remains relatively understudied, frequently overshadowed by the reformist ministry of Duarte Pacheco and by the dominant ideological narratives of the period. This article advances a critical analysis centred on urban composition and city design, with particular emphasis on the transformation of coastal urban structures and on Aguiar’s interventions in the Portuguese colonial context. Through a comparative and interpretative methodology, the study examines the formal and spatial principles underpinning his plans, while addressing the cultural challenges involved in adapting European urban models to non-European contexts. By shifting the focus from a merely descriptive inventory of planning instruments to a deeper investigation of urban form, this research offers a more nuanced reading of urban transformation processes in overseas coastal settlements. It contributes to a clearer and more structured understanding of Aguiar’s influence on African and Asian urbanism and on colonial planning practices more broadly. Full article

Using theories of Afrocentricity (African Indigenous Knowledge) and of positioning, we investigated how Sub-Saharan African immigrant parents (SSAIP) support their Grade 6–9 children’s mathematics learning in Canada. Individual interviews were collected from twelve immigrant parents living in an urban community in Alberta and new to Canada (within five years). We ask: what are the mathematics experiences and perspectives of Sub-Saharan African immigrant families? We analyzed interview data from 12 SSAIPs from Greater Edmonton, Canada to identify the storylines they shared regarding their experiences and perspectives of mathematics learning. The prevailing storylines were interpreted through an African Indigenous Knowledge lens. We found that parents adjust their mathematics learning support for their children by negotiating their experiences from two cultural worlds of education: pre-colonial (African Indigenous Knowledge) and colonized worldviews, their home and host cultures, generally. We identified these storylines, some of which sit in tension with each other: “mathematics learning is a communal responsibility”, “mathematics teachers share responsibility for the moral upbringing of the child”, “mathematics as memory work is feared and stressful”, “adults tell children what to do”, “adults negotiate with children about what to do”, and “success in mathematics is a gift from God”. We interpreted the storylines through the Akan Adinkra epistemologies which manifest in the Adinkra symbols and sayings, and through our experiences living and working in Sub-Saharan Africa, to determine the way each storyline aligned with old African or new African ways. This study will be beneficial for educators wishing to adopt culturally responsive ways of engaging immigrant families in their children’s mathematics learning. Full article

Despite a large number of African-born individuals residing in the United States, there is a significant disparity in how this community accesses and utilizes mental health treatment. Low screening rates for common mental health concerns is one crucial part of ongoing inequities in mental healthcare access. Willingness to engage in screening is negatively impacted by a lack of culturally responsive ways to make screening more acceptable and stigma with mental health. This study therefore aimed to examine the perceived acceptability and utility of community-developed patient vignettes created to increase willingness to be screened for common mental health concerns. Employing a qualitative approach, a community advisory board (CAB) (n = 5) was enlisted to co-develop vignettes outlining an African community member’s symptoms of anxiety and subsequent help-seeking behavior. Two focus groups of community members (n = 18) provided qualitative feedback on the vignettes and shared their general attitudes towards mental health and recommendations for mental health screening and treatment in the African community. Using a hybrid inductive and deductive qualitative descriptive approach and classifying responses based on the socioecological model, four major themes emerged from the data: (1) between support and strain: the role of family; (2) reducing stigma: community voices as education; (3) culture as a barrier and a bridge; and (4) the importance of stories that reflect lived experience. Overall, participants were receptive to the culturally-responsive mental health vignettes and provided fruitful suggestions for how these stories can be used to reduce stigma and increase willingness to seek screening and treatment in African-born residents of the United States. Full article

West African cuisine is among the world’s most complex and historically significant culinary traditions, shaped by diverse ecosystems, centuries of trans-regional trade, and the cultural heritage of more than three hundred distinct ethnic groups spanning the Atlantic coast and the Sahel. West African cuisine has undergone a significant cultural and culinary transformation in the American food landscape, moving from relative obscurity to mainstream visibility. This entry examines the rise of West African cuisine in the United States, with particular attention to jollof as a cultural symbol of identity, diaspora, and culinary diplomacy. Drawing on academic scholarship, food journalism, and primary cultural sources, the entry traces the historical roots of West African foodways through the transatlantic slave trade and their enduring influence on American culinary traditions. It further explores how contemporary chefs, restaurateurs, and food writers of West African descent, including Eric Adjepong, Pierre Thiam, and Kwame Onwuachi, have elevated the cuisine within American fine dining and popular culture. The entry also addresses the role of social media, particularly the viral “Jollof Wars,” in amplifying West African culinary culture globally, culminating in UNESCO’s recognition of Senegalese jollof rice as an element of intangible cultural heritage. Questions of structural barriers, authenticity, and representation are critically examined. The entry argues that while West African cuisine is experiencing unprecedented visibility in America, its mainstream acceptance remains mediated by cultural filters that risk diluting its complexity and richness. Ultimately, this entry positions West African cuisine not merely as a culinary trend but as a living expression of diasporic identity, cultural resilience, and global influence. Full article

Background: Breast cancer survivorship extends beyond physical recovery to include psychological and social adjustment, particularly how women construct and perceive their identity as survivors. While survivor identity has been widely studied in high-income countries, there is limited evidence from African contexts. This review synthesizes existing literature on breast cancer survivor identity in Africa, with a focus on patterns of self-perception, associated psychosocial factors, and implications for survivorship care. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, African Index Medicus, and grey literature for studies published between 2010 and 2026. Eligible studies reported primary data on survivorship and survivor identity among African women with Breast Cancer. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Confidence in qualitative findings was evaluated using the CERQual approach. Results: Of 32 records identified, seven studies met the inclusion criteria, representing Nigeria, Ethiopia, Botswana, and South Africa. Most studies employed qualitative methodologies, including grounded theory, phenomenology, interviews, and focus groups, with two incorporating quantitative or mixed methods. Key psychosocial domains included self-identity, coping strategies, social support, quality of life, and body image. Three overarching survivor identity patterns were identified: (1) Embracing/Constructive, characterized by acceptance of the survivor identity and its integration into personal growth and empowerment; (2) Ambiguous/Fluctuating, reflecting uncertainty and shifting between patient and survivor identities; and (3) Non-salient/Resisting, where the survivor identity was rejected or deemed irrelevant. Methodological appraisal indicated generally high study quality, with strong credibility and confirmability, though transferability was moderate. CERQual assessments indicated high confidence in findings related to embracing identity, moderate-to-high confidence for ambiguous identity, and moderate confidence for resisting identity. Conclusions: Breast cancer survivor identity among African women is diverse and shaped by cultural, psychosocial, and healthcare contexts. Constructive identity formation is associated with empowerment and personal growth, whereas ambiguous or resistant identities suggest ongoing psychosocial challenges. Interventions should incorporate psychosocial support, peer engagement, and culturally responsive survivorship programs to promote positive identity development. Future research should prioritize rural populations and longitudinal designs to better understand identity trajectories over time. Strengthening survivorship care in Africa requires a holistic approach that addresses both psychological and physical dimensions to enhance overall quality of life. Full article

Background: Black Sub-Saharan African immigrants are among the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the United States, and their mental health needs, particularly with respect to depression, remain understudied. Cultural beliefs, linguistic frameworks, and coping practices in this population often diverge from Western psychiatric models, suggesting that conventional approaches may fail to capture how distress is experienced and expressed. Objective: This scoping review mapped literature on how Black Sub-Saharan African immigrant adults in the United States perceive, report, and respond to depression. Methods: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, six electronic databases were systematically searched for empirical studies published between 2000 and 2026. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data using a standardized form. Data were analyzed using a narrative synthesis approach combining deductive thematic categorization across three predefined review domains with inductive identification of subthemes through iterative team discussion and consensus, with sociocultural, religious, linguistic, and structural factors examined as cross-cutting themes. Findings were synthesized narratively across three domains: perceptions of depression, reporting and communication, and responses to depression. Results: A total of 19 studies met the inclusion criteria (7 quantitative, 10 qualitative, 2 mixed methods; total N ≈ 1900), generating 24 themes. Perception themes highlighted cultural non-recognition of depression (12 of 19 studies), absence of equivalent terms in African languages (7 studies), spiritual explanatory models, and profound stigma. Reporting patterns showed predominant somatic symptom expression and very low disclosure to providers (2.6–4.2%), with depression prevalence ranging from 8.1% to 100% and no validated screening instrument identified for this population. Response themes emphasized religion and social support as primary coping strategies, with formal mental health utilization virtually absent due to structural, cultural, and intersectional barriers. Conclusions: Depression among Black Sub-Saharan African immigrants is widely experienced yet rendered invisible through interlocking cultural, linguistic, somatic, and institutional mechanisms, which this review terms an architecture of invisibility, leaving it largely unaddressed by formal mental health systems. The identification of only one intervention study underscores a substantial gap between documenting the burden of depression and advancing evidence-informed solutions. Culturally validated measures, faith-based intervention models, longitudinal designs, and attention to structural determinants are urgently needed. Full article

Notwithstanding the cruciality of the decolonisation project in decentring African perspectives and experiences in education, very few studies have explored the extent to which the Fallist Movements in South Africa have presented foundational pathways for academic staff to negate colonial legacies and recentre African thought systems. Through a systematic literature review of research from the public domain, this study couched within the decolonial lens explored university students’ concerns, embedded in the Fallist Movements in South Africa, and how academic staff could draw lessons from student actions to decolonise education. After screening the initial 65 entries, based on the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 19 research studies published between 2015 and 2025 were retained for analysis. Findings reveal three recurring concerns: disrupting positionality in colonial categories of universities, reasserting their Being, and agitating for a decolonised curriculum, of which these embodied the spirit of students’ resilience against cultural colonisation, epistemic erasure, and economic exclusion. Building on these findings, the paper argues that such resilience from students enlightens the strategies academic staff could learn to transform the decolonisation project into reality. Implications for the academic community in South Africa and comparable contexts are proposed to resuscitate the unfinished business of decolonising education. Full article

Background: The retention of Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) is critical for the integrity and sustainability of clinical trials in South Africa, an emerging hub for global clinical research. High CRA turnover threatens trial quality, data continuity, and site relationships, yet the context-specific drivers of turnover within the South African clinical research landscape remain poorly understood. This study explores the factors influencing job satisfaction and turnover intentions among CRAs to inform targeted retention strategies. Methods: A qualitative, interpretivist study was conducted using semi-structured interviews. Twelve CRAs with experience in South African Contract Research Organizations (CROs) were sampled on LinkedIn using purposive sampling. Data were analyzed iteratively using thematic analysis within Atlas.ti 26.0.1.33961 software, guided by Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory and Mobley’s Turnover Model. Results: The analysis revealed a complex model of turnover drivers. Compensation was the most salient factor, operating not only as a hygiene factor but also as a direct motivator for job mobility in a competitive market. Unsustainable workload and a culture stigmatizing discussions of overload were key push factors. Intrinsic motivators were equally decisive: misalignment with therapeutic area preferences caused profound dissatisfaction, while alignment fostered engagement. Career growth manifested dual pathways: ambition for vertical progression and a redefined search for horizontal growth into roles offering greater work-life flexibility. Conclusions: CRA turnover is driven by an interplay of extrinsic pressures and intrinsic motivational deficits. To enhance retention, managers must adopt a multi-pronged strategy: implement market-competitive, well-being-oriented compensation; foster a culture that supports open workload dialogue; create transparent career architectures with dual progression tracks; and facilitate internal mobility across therapeutic areas. This study provides a foundational framework for developing context-sensitive retention policies, thereby contributing to the stability and quality of clinical research in South Africa. Full article

Although apartheid ended in 1994, its legacy continues to shape South Africa’s higher education system, reinforcing disparities in access, funding, and representation. This study aims to critically examine how apartheid diplomacy has influenced higher education and asks: how do its strategies continue to shape academic practices, institutional relationships, and systemic inequalities in post-apartheid South Africa? It conceptualises apartheid diplomacy as the use of education to entrench racial hierarchies, reproduce class domination, and suppress indigenous knowledge. Grounded in Marxist and Weberian class theories and Crenshaw’s intersectionality framework, the analysis traces how apartheid-era policies institutionalised systemic inequalities and how these legacies persist within institutions. A scoping review was conducted using five databases (EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and Scopus) between January 2007 and April 2025, guided by PRISMA ScR and Arksey and O’Malley’s six-stage framework. Of 75 articles retrieved, 15 met the inclusion criteria. Findings reveal that apartheid diplomacy shaped academic governance, resource distribution, and knowledge production, leaving enduring inequities despite ongoing reforms. Transformation efforts, including financial aid schemes, equity policies, and curriculum debates, have achieved progress but remain constrained by structural, cultural, and intersectional barriers. The study underscores that achieving lasting equity requires continuous policy interventions, inclusive leadership, and curriculum decolonisation, alongside advocacy and interdisciplinary research. It reframes higher education as a diplomatic arena where equity and epistemic justice are negotiated, offering an original lens for understanding and dismantling apartheid’s enduring influence on South African academia. Full article

Establishing a strong safety culture remains a key challenge for safety professionals in the manufacturing sector. Although safety culture has been examined across South African industries such as food production, aviation and construction, limited research focuses on manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This study addresses this gap by examining how employees perceive organizational factors influencing safety culture through a six-factor leadership and safety practices framework. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from a convenience sample of 487 employees aged 18–65 years working in South African manufacturing SMEs, recruited through a national market research panel. A structured, self-administered questionnaire measured employee perceptions of organizational factors shaping safety culture and related compliance behaviors. The structural model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and strong model fit, with six core factors identified, namely management commitment, safety incentives, safety training, safety communication with feedback, safety culture, and safety compliance. Findings indicate that stronger safety culture development requires SME leadership engagement, resource allocation and open communication, supported by frequent, context-specific training and intrinsic and extrinsic incentives, while clear, enforceable compliance measures help reduce workplace hazards and maintain regulatory alignment. Full article

In this article, I explore Blackface Minstrels as a burlesque representation of African Americans. Black minstrelsy was an American nineteenth-century entertainment sensation that was subsequently exported to Europe and sustained there. While it would be impossible in this article to give an overview of the history of blackface minstrelsy, it is necessary to first tease out some of the characteristics of the genre, at particular historical moments, in order to reach an understanding of the genre’s popularity, how it sat in its social (and primarily race-sculpted) landscape, and examine some of the inherent contradictions therein. I scrutinise in particular blackface minstrelsy’s reception by Irish audiences, probing the politics of representation therein involved. To this end, I also investigate issues of social and cultural visibility in an Irish landscape that was remarkably homogeneous racially until at least the 1990s. As two core documents in this regard, I firstly examine the BBC’s ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’, created by George Inns in 1958, which ran from 1958 to 1978, in black and white, ironically, until 1967, and thereafter in colour. The second document that I examine is the very successful Irish Lyons Tea Company’s advertisement from the 1980s, which featured stick-figure black-and-white minstrels in stereotypical makeup and ‘standard minstrel Kentucky dress’ singing and dancing to a simple but memorable jingo. Full article

This Y-chromosome study of Moroccan Jews, the largest conducted to date, analyzes the patrilineal origins of 288 men of genealogically verified Moroccan Jewish descent through the Avotaynu DNA Project, identifying 111 distinct founder lineages. The long-standing hypothesis of large-scale Berber Judaization has not previously been tested at full Y-chromosome resolution; our findings provide the first systematic evidence against it. Approximately 71% of founder lineages and 80% of individuals trace to haplogroups common in the Middle East. Only 4.5% of founder lineages are of autochthonous North African origin. Iberian-origin lineages account for 11% of Moroccan Jewish founder lineages reflecting sustained demographic and cultural exchange between Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula over many centuries. Split dates between Moroccan and Ashkenazi or Sephardic subclades cluster between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, suggesting that the ancestral lineages of contemporary Moroccan Jews were already present across the Mediterranean basin during late Antiquity and the early medieval period. Analysis of 190 distinct Moroccan Jewish surname roots identifies 29 polygenic and 30 monogenic surnames, and demonstrates that the linguistic origin of a surname, including surnames of Maghrebi morphology, does not necessarily reflect its bearer’s Y-chromosome ancestry. Unlike Ashkenazi Jews, Moroccan Jews show no evidence of a founder effect or genetic bottleneck, and display a remarkable patrilineal diversity. Among the individual lineages documented here are the first paleogenetic link between a contemporary Moroccan Jewish patriline and a victim of the 1348 Tàrrega pogrom, an Iberian/Ashkenazi split traceable to tenth-century al-Andalus, and an unexpected connection between a predominantly Moroccan Jewish lineage and the Saint Thomas Syrian Christian community of Kerala. Moroccan Jewish patrilineal heritage is overwhelmingly Middle Eastern in origin and has been preserved with remarkable continuity across two millennia of diaspora, persecution, and migration. Full article

This article examines how women’s ritual authority and identity are negotiated in contemporary mourning practices among the Tsonga. Although African scholarship has increasingly addressed gender, widowhood, and ritual life, limited attention has been paid to mourning as a gendered space in which women’s authority is simultaneously exercised, regulated, and contested. The article addresses this gap by analysing mourning not as a static cultural residue, but as a dynamic ritual field shaped by kinship, seniority, obligation, memory, and social change. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative document analysis of recent scholarly literature, ethnographic studies, and theoretically relevant texts on Tsonga mourning, African ritual practice, kinship, and gender. The analysis is guided by a decolonial perspective, which recentres African epistemologies and lived ritual meanings, and a genealogical perspective, which traces how authority, identity, and obligation are transmitted and reworked across generations. The article argues that Tsonga mourning practices position women as custodians of ritual continuity while also subjecting them to moral discipline and social regulation. Its contribution lies in bringing together African gender studies, ritual studies, genealogy, and decolonial scholarship to show how mourning remains a vital site for the ongoing negotiation of gender, belonging, and cultural authority. Full article