These essays address the conflict between indigenous African feminisms and the radicalism of variants of Western feminism with their emphasis on sexuality and seeming oppositions to motherhood.

This volume is made up of the papers of prominent scholars, feminists, and creative writers presented at the 1992 Women in Africa and the African Diaspora (WAAD) Conference which took place at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The essays cover various contemporary topics germane to the study of feminism and womanhood. The on-going conference aims at mobilizing support for the Feminist cause and the engendering of feminism as a viable agent for positive social change in Africa and the African Diaspora.

This volume, which gathers prominent scholars, feminists, womanists, and creative writers from Africa and the African Diaspora, engages with candor and vigor issues and conflicts in feminism and black women studies - feminism and womanism debates, sisterhood and power struggles, research and documentation questions, elite and grass roots women relationship, urban and rural dichotomy, African and the African Diaspora relationship.

Focusing on the pluralisms of feminisms, these essays address the conflict between indigenous African feminisms and the radicalism of variants of Western feminism with their emphasis on sexuality and seeming oppositions to motherhood. They collectively argue that the African environment specifically should provide the context for any meaningful analysis of feminisms on the continent.

The volume weaves theoretical questions, personal and collective engagements into a complex tapestry that spans Africa and the African Diaspora - from women organizing for change in South Africa and women's insurgency against colonialism in Nigeria to the problems of doing research on women in Uganda and building of a sisterhood in Memphis Tennessee. Above all, Sisterhood, Feminism and Power makes a convincing case of dialogue across geographic and ethnic lines, across genders and within gender. In aggregate, the book is an important step towards that critical dialogue.

"Edited with skill and commitment, Sisterhood, feminism and Power underscores the fact that feminisms in Africa are inseparable from politics, economics and religions. One cannot stress enough the relevance and import of this volume that adroitly links the local to the global and the individual to the collective. This important and long overdue work merits the serious attention of women and men all over the world." - Nawal El Saadawi

ISBN: 978-0865434394

Publisher: Africa World Press

Publication Date: (March 1998)

Paperback: 513 pages