The Subaltern in Africa’s Political Space: African Political Philosophy and the Mirror of Gender

Abstract

Politics is regarded in many parts of the world, especially in Africa, as a space meant exclusively for men. Therefore, women venturing into politics are made to believe that they are misfits, and the idea is anathematized and strangulated from the outset by those who are supposed to encourage the women. It is popularly believed that it is natural for men to rule over women, while it is considered abnormal and unnatural for women to rule over men. Although different societies have at one time or the other in history been ruled by queens and female warriors, at least, that is not usually seen as bizarre in societies that practice monarchical or imperial rule. In a democracy, however, a lot of people vehemently oppose the idea of a woman vying for a political office. In the case of Africa, two factors are responsible for this: the African people’s colonial experience and the bifurcation of the social sphere into public and private spaces. This has entrenched gender roles into the scheme of social reality held by the people. The people hold that certain roles must be performed by women while certain roles are exclusively for men. This culture has made it increasingly difficult to achieve parity and egalitarianism in gender relations in contemporary Africa and to achieve meaningful development in Africa. This article suggests ideological decolonization as a way out of the current predicament of the African women as the subaltern in the patriarchal and hostile political space of contemporary Africa.