How can decolonising and Indigenous forms of research contribute to gender justice and reducing violence against women? This chapter includes a number of rigorous approaches to this significant realm.
Bagele Chilisa and Gabo Ntseane, in their paper “Resisting dominant discourses: implications of indigenous, African feminist theory and methods for gender and education research, Gender and Education” (Chilisa & Ntseane, 2010) argue for the importance of researching important resources within African philosophy to challenge gender oppressions:
How does an activist feminist researcher address oppression that comes through religion, and local, African cultural ideologies and the patriarchal privileging of the male voice? African feminism asserts that ‘the framework for a world free of oppression already exists within traditional African philosophical world view’, which can be used to challenge the patriarchal myths in African cultures. We want to ask what narratives the African philosophical world view offers to counter proverbs like: ‘Ga dinke di etelelwa ke e namagadi pele, di ka wela ka le mina’ (Women cannot be leaders) and the Western Biblical story of human origin?
The Tswana story of origin offers one alternative (are there more?). According to the Tswana story of origin, the people came from the hill of Lowe. When they came out, men and women were walking side-by-side driving sheep, goats and cattle. This story defies explanations that justify inequalities on the basis of traditions and reveals other ways of viewing gender relations based on tradition. It is an important contribution to knowledge production in the area of gender relations and could be used as an important entry point for a researcher who might be looking for intervention strategies to address the inequalities. We can see how there are important resources in African philosophy to challenge gender oppressions and we need to ask questions about how this can be used methodologically and educationally to challenge gendered violence, for instance.
(Chilisa & Ntseane, 2010, p. 627)
The same paper argues that researchers have to be activists and use their research experiences to make a difference in the lives of those researched and they discuss a number of ways African women are decolonising research processes in order to envision other ways of theorising the complexity of gender experiences.
Researching liberative traditions
In the following interview, Pasifika researcher, policy analyst, and community worker, Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese, speaks with narrative therapist David Denborough about the Just Therapy Team’s significant contributions to developing Pasifika research methods that resist colonizing assumptions and honour culture and relationship. Taimalieutu describes the development of innovative research methods capable of eliciting Indigenous knowledges about gender relations in Samoa to support communities in addressing interpersonal violence. This involved finding ways to work beyond text, embracing art and spirituality, and grappling with the complexities of translation.
Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese and David Denborough
More about the approach of the Just Therapy team in relation to gender accountabilities, gender arrangements and the gender culture interface
African feminisms
In the following video, Bagele responds to questions from Esther Ingabiribyishaka about African feminisms.
Discussing the significance of African feminisms: Bagele Chilisa and Esther Ingabiriyishaka
Further projects
Two other Indigenous research projects seeking to prevent men’s violence are included in Chapter 12 of this course: Anthony Newcastle’s Search for Green Ant Dreaming with Aboriginal men in Australia; and Dorothy Wanega and Jane Awi’s research with school students in Papua New Guinea in response to violence within families.
Reflect
Please reflect on the power relations you will need to consider in your research. These may include the power relations of gender, class, sex and gender diversity, age, and others. And then write a short reflection below about this.
References
Chilisa, B., & Ntseane, G. (2010). Resisting dominant discourses: Implications of indigenous, African feminist theory and methods for gender and education research. Gender and Education, 22(6), 617–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2010.519578 [paywalled]
Tamasese, K., & Denborough, D. (2024). Research as seeking help: Searching for liberative knowledge: An interview with Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese. The Qualitative Report, 29(12), 219-231. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.7871 [open access]