Gendered Constitutionalism in Postcolonial Africa: Towards a Decolonial Gendered Citizenship

Abstract

This paper makes the case for a theorising of gendered constitutionalism in postcolonial Africa on its own terms, rather than as an appendage or often afterthought to hegemonic and universalising impulses of Western liberal thought. More specifically, the first task is to interrogate the existing body of literature of feminist constitutionalism to examine the extent to which it speaks for the pursuit of gender equality through constitutions in Africa that produces an awkward incongruence with that of Western feminist liberal thought. The second task is to explore an alternative framework within feminist constitutionalism that speaks more closely to ordinary women’s experiences to the pursuit of rights and justice through constitutions in Africa. I find great persuasion in Annette Joseph-Gabriel’s concept of decolonial citizenship as a promising avenue towards a decolonial gendered citizenship within gendered constitutionalism in Africa. I do this through three lines of enquiry: the concept of gender in Africa, the postcolonial, and decolonial. The choice of the term ‘gendered’ as opposed to ‘feminist’ constitutionalism is deliberate, and both ontological and epistemic to demonstrate the colonial imposition of gendered binaries. I set out the postcolonial context, so often associated or even conflated with the Third World or Global South although the terms are not mutually exclusive in terms of neat definitions, neither do they necessarily mean the same thing. The postcolonial sets the stage for a discussion on the coloniality of constitutionalism in Africa. Coloniality is distinct from colonialism in and of itself and is concerned with the colonial and continuing imposition of Western liberal constitutional thought on Africa, including through the global governance feminist movement. Liberal rights constitutional frameworks sit awkwardly with African societies with plural normative orders in a way that means ordinary African womenfolk may not access constitutional rights. Constitutional agency is key.