Women and Power

Olutoyin Mejiuni

Description

Education is an important tool for the development of human potential. Organizations and individuals interested in development consider knowledge, skills and attitudes, obtained through formal, non-formal and incidental learning, as invaluable assets. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect on fundamental elements that shape the process through which education is attained: How do people learn, and what are the conditions that facilitate effective learning? Answers to these questions demonstrate that no education can be politically neutral, because there is no value-free education. The traditional or indigenous education systems in Nigeria, which covered (and still cover) physical training, development of character, respect for elders and peers, development of intellectual skills, specific vocational trainings, developing a sense of belonging and participation in community affairs, and understanding, appreciating and promoting the cultural heritage of the community were, and are, not value-free. In other words, the goals and purpose of education, the content, the entire process and the procedures chosen for evaluation in education are all value-laden. This book attempts to show that the teaching-learning process in higher education, and religion, taught and learned through non-formal and informal education (or the hidden curriculum), and other socialization processes within and outside the formal school system, all interface to determine the persons that women become. This education enhances or limits women's capabilities, whether in the civic-political sphere or in their attempts to resist violence. Hence, education and religion have ways of empowering or disempowering women.

Sujets

• Gender Studies

Informations

• Publié par: CODESRIA
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9782869785762
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Women and Power

This book is a product of the CODESRIA Advanced Research Fellowship Programme

Women and Power Education, Religion and Identity

Olutoyin Mejiuni

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa DAKAR

CODESRIA Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, Angle Canal IV — P. O. Box 3304 Dakar, CP 18524, Senegal Website: www.codesria.org

© Olutoyin Mejiuni 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any infor- mation storage or retrieval system without prior permission from CODESRIA.

ISBN: 978-2-86978-493-2

Layout: Hadijatou Sy Cover Design: Ibrahima Fofana

Distributed in Africa by CODESRIA Distributed elsewhere by the African Books Collective, Oxford, UK. Website: www.africanbookscollective.com

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is an independent organisation whose principal objectives are to facilitate research, promote research- based publishing and create multiple forums geared towards the exchange of views and information among African researchers. All these are aimed at reducing the fragmentation of research in the continent through the creation of thematic research networks that cut across linguistic and regional boundaries.

CODESRIA publishes a quarterly journal,Africa Development, the longest standing Africa- based social science journal;Afrika Zamani, a journal of history; theAfrican Sociological Review; theAfrican Journal of International Affairs;Africa Review of Booksthe and Journal of Higher Education in Africa. The Council also co-publishes theAfrica Media Review;Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro-Asian Dialogue;The African Anthropologist and theAfro-Arab Selections for Social Sciences. The results of its research and other activities are also disseminated through its Working Paper Series, Green Book Series, Monograph Series, Book Series, Policy Briefs and theCODESRIA Bulletin. Select CODESRIA publications are also accessible online at www.codesria.org.

CODESRIA would like to express its gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA/SAREC), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the Danish Agency for Inter- national Development (DANIDA), the French Ministry of Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Rocke- feller Foundation, FINIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Open Society Foundations (OSFs), TrustAfrica, UN/UNICEF, the African Capacity Buil- ding Foundation (ACBF) and the Government of Senegal for supporting its research, trai- ning and publication programmes.

To all women and children, literate and illiterate, who have resisted and are resisting oppression quietly and loudly, individually and collectively and to all men who have supported them in the process

Content

List of Abbreviations......................................................................................... ix List of Tables ......................................................................................................x List of Boxes ........................................................................................................x Acknowledgements.............................................................................................. xi Preface............................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ......................................................................................................xix

1. The Methodology ........................................................................................ 1

2. Women’s Civic-Political Participation Towards an Equitable and Humane Democratic Order .................................................................... 11

3. The Subordinate Role of Women in the Private and Public Spheres ....................................................................................................... 49

4. Who am I? Prescribing Women’s Identities ....................................... 79

5. The Violence of Power: Power Relations and Women’s Experience of Violence ....................................................................... 107

6. Women’s Identities and Power 147

7. Is Formal Education Empowering? ................................................... 163

Conclusion and Recommendations.................................................................. 183 References.......................................................................................................... 189 Appendices .......................................................................................................195

List of Abbreviations

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ABA-CEELI American Bar Association Central and European Law Initiative CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CODESRIA Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa DG Director General FGD Focus Group Discussion FLF Female Leadership Forum FNWS Federation of Nigerian Women Societies FOMWAN Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria HIV Human Immuno Deficiency Syndrome HND Higher National Diploma I-IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance JSS Junior Secondary School NAFDAC National Directorate for Food and Drugs Administration and Control NCE National Certificate in Education NGO Non-Governmental Organization NEPU Northern Elements Progressive Union PDP People’s Democratic Party UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCHR United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights WARSHE Women Against Rape, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Exploitation WIN Women in Nigeria