In Decolonization and Afro-Feminism, Sylvia Tamale presents a powerful and urgent call for Africa’s intellectual, cultural, and political liberation through an Afro-feminist lens. The book critically examines how colonialism has deeply entrenched systems of oppression—based on race, gender, sexuality, class, and knowledge production—and argues that true decolonization requires more than political independence; it demands a radical rethinking of African identities, histories, and futures.
Tamale challenges Eurocentric and patriarchal frameworks that continue to dominate African societies, institutions, and academia. She explores themes such as:
-
The coloniality of gender and sexuality, using case studies like Caster Semenya to expose how Western norms pathologize African bodies.
-
The importance of intersectionality in understanding overlapping systems of oppression.
-
The role of Afro-ecofeminism in reconnecting African ecological wisdom with social justice.
-
The need to decolonize African academia, law, and family structures to recenter Indigenous knowledge and epistemologies.
-
The potential of Ubuntu as a framework for justice, community, and relationality.
The book is both a scholarly critique and a visionary roadmap, emphasizing that decolonization must be a feminist, inclusive, and holistic project—one that reclaims Africa’s dignity, autonomy, and intellectual sovereignty.
Written with clarity and passion, Decolonization and Afro-Feminism is essential reading for students, activists, scholars, and anyone committed to understanding and advancing Africa’s liberation in the 21st century.