4 - Re-membering Wangari Maathai’s Feminist Scholarship in her Autobiography Unbowed: One Woman’s Story
Corresponding Author(s) : Stephen M. Mutie
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 20 No. 1 (2022): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
While scholars have proposed to interrupt and resist the prevailing androcentric view prevalent in Kenyan society, and, of course, some of these ways have borne fruit, this article proposes to turn attention to women’s narratives as captured in their autobiographies. This article is thus an interpretive analysis of Professor Wangari Maathai’s autobiography Unbowed: One Woman’s Story. Hopefully, personal story will answer particular theoretical questions that underpin the understanding and conceptualisation of feminism by Wanjiku (poor women) in Kenya. Under the backdrop of this question lies a fundamental assumption that feminism in Kenya needs a rethinking and a possible reconceptualisation to address past failures and setbacks. While locating its interrogation on postcolonial feminist theoretical underpinnings, the article adopts a qualitative approach as part of the research design. Being interpretive, the study relies on lit-crit methodology to analyse Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed. The main concern is to interrogate how Maathai’s autobiography reframes feminist scholarship in Kenya, particularly by underscoring the significance of Wanjiku as a key resource in the whole feminist enterprise.
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- Calinescu, M., 1993, ‘Modernity, modernism, modernisation: variations on modern themes’, Symplokē 1(1): 1–20.
- Carby, H., 2013, ‘White Woman Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood’, in S. Harris and L. Hughes, eds, A Feminist Reader: Feminist Thought from Sappho to Satrapi. Vol IV 1981–2003, Cambridge and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
- Diaw, A., 2007, ‘Sewing machines and computers? Seeing gender ininstitutional and intellectual cultures at the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal’, Feminist Africa 9: Rethinking Universities II, Cape Town: African Gender Institute.
- Fox, D., 2009, ‘The Anthropological Collaborator: Feminist Scholarship and Activism in Africa’, in M. Ndulo and M. Grieco, eds, Power, Gender and Social Change in Africa, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Fuss, D., ed., 1991, Inside/Out, New York, NY: Routledge.
- Garber, M., 1992, Vested Interests: Cross Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, New York, NY: Routledge.
- Goldberg, J., ed., 1994, Queering the Renaissance, Durham, NC, Duke University Press.
- Iheka, C., 2017, ‘Pope Francis’ integral ecology and environmentalism for the poor’, Environmental Ethics 39: 243–60.
- Maathai, W., 2006, Unbowed: One Woman’s Story, London: Heinemann.
- Mama, A., 1996, Women’s Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s, Working Paper Series 5/96, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Mama, A., 2005, ‘Gender Studies for Africa’s Intellectual Transformation’, in T. Mkandawire, ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London: Zed Books.
- Mohanty, C.T., Russo, A., and Torres, L., 1991, Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
- Nyongesa, A., Murimi G., and Makokha, J., 2021, ‘Otherness and marginal spaces: beyond politics and race in contemporary African novels’, Imbizo 12 (1): 16 pp, available at https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6565/7694.
- Odiemo-Munara, L., 2008, ‘Women engagement with power and authority in writing East Africa’, paper presented at CODESRIA’s 12th General Assembly, Governing the African Public Sphere, Yaoundé, 7–11 December.
- Osirim, M., 2009, ‘Mobilising for Change Locally and Globally: African Women as Scholar-Activists in Feminist and Gender Studies’, in M. Ndulo and M. Grieco, eds, Power, Gender and Social Change in Africa, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Shiva, V., 1988, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development, London: Zed Books.
- Woolf, V., 1977, A Room of One’s Own, London: Grafton.
References
Calinescu, M., 1993, ‘Modernity, modernism, modernisation: variations on modern themes’, Symplokē 1(1): 1–20.
Carby, H., 2013, ‘White Woman Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood’, in S. Harris and L. Hughes, eds, A Feminist Reader: Feminist Thought from Sappho to Satrapi. Vol IV 1981–2003, Cambridge and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Diaw, A., 2007, ‘Sewing machines and computers? Seeing gender ininstitutional and intellectual cultures at the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal’, Feminist Africa 9: Rethinking Universities II, Cape Town: African Gender Institute.
Fox, D., 2009, ‘The Anthropological Collaborator: Feminist Scholarship and Activism in Africa’, in M. Ndulo and M. Grieco, eds, Power, Gender and Social Change in Africa, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Fuss, D., ed., 1991, Inside/Out, New York, NY: Routledge.
Garber, M., 1992, Vested Interests: Cross Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, New York, NY: Routledge.
Goldberg, J., ed., 1994, Queering the Renaissance, Durham, NC, Duke University Press.
Iheka, C., 2017, ‘Pope Francis’ integral ecology and environmentalism for the poor’, Environmental Ethics 39: 243–60.
Maathai, W., 2006, Unbowed: One Woman’s Story, London: Heinemann.
Mama, A., 1996, Women’s Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s, Working Paper Series 5/96, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Mama, A., 2005, ‘Gender Studies for Africa’s Intellectual Transformation’, in T. Mkandawire, ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London: Zed Books.
Mohanty, C.T., Russo, A., and Torres, L., 1991, Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Nyongesa, A., Murimi G., and Makokha, J., 2021, ‘Otherness and marginal spaces: beyond politics and race in contemporary African novels’, Imbizo 12 (1): 16 pp, available at https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6565/7694.
Odiemo-Munara, L., 2008, ‘Women engagement with power and authority in writing East Africa’, paper presented at CODESRIA’s 12th General Assembly, Governing the African Public Sphere, Yaoundé, 7–11 December.
Osirim, M., 2009, ‘Mobilising for Change Locally and Globally: African Women as Scholar-Activists in Feminist and Gender Studies’, in M. Ndulo and M. Grieco, eds, Power, Gender and Social Change in Africa, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Shiva, V., 1988, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development, London: Zed Books.
Woolf, V., 1977, A Room of One’s Own, London: Grafton.