Family Matters
eBook - PDF

Family Matters

Feminist Concepts in African Philosophy of Culture

  1. 330 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Family Matters

Feminist Concepts in African Philosophy of Culture

About this book

Charts new trends in gender studies through a compelling analysis of Igbo society.

Prior to European colonialism, Igboland, a region in Nigeria, was a nonpatriarchal, nongendered society governed by separate but interdependent political systems for men and women. In the last one hundred fifty years, the Igbo family has undergone vast structural changes in response to a barrage of cultural forces. Critically rereading social practices and oral and written histories of Igbo women and the society, Nkiru Uwechia Nzegwu demonstrates how colonial laws, edicts, and judicial institutions facilitated the creation of gender inequality in Igbo society. Nzegwu exposes the unlikely convergence of Western feminist and African male judges' assumptions about "traditional" African values where women are subordinate and oppressed. Instead she offers a conception of equality based on historical Igbo family structures and practices that challenges the epistemological and ontological bases of Western feminist inquiry.

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Yes, you can access Family Matters by Nkiru Uwechia Nzegwu in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Sozialwissenschaften & Geschichte & Theorie der Philosophie. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. FAMILY MATTERS
  2. CONTENTS
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. Introduction: Igbo Family Structure and Feminist Concepts
  5. 1. Family Politics: Making Patriarchy in a Patrilineal Society
  6. 2. Legalizing Patriarchy: Sorting Through Customary Laws and Practices
  7. 3. Customs and Misrepresentations: Widows and Daughters in Inheritance Disputes
  8. 4. The Conclave: A Dialogic Search for Equality
  9. 5. Structures of Equality: In Mono- and Dual-Sex Systems
  10. CONCLUSION: Toward a Balanced Society
  11. NOTES
  12. GLOSSARY
  13. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
  14. INDEX