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MsAfropolitan

FEMINISM. PAN-AFRICA. SOCIAL CRITICISM. DIASPORA. CULTURE.

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The missing feminist politics of the cyclical

March 16, 2020 By MsAfropolitan 2 Comments

If women had power parity the notion of the cyclical would be of central importance to how we structure everything—our politics, economics, laws, media, education, and policy. The cyclical is a natural measure of temporality for women as it is encoded into our bodies. The cyclicality within our bodily functions prevents us from forgetting, in…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: coronavirus, covid-19, cyclical, feminist, politics, temporality

Meritocracy, the enlightened west and other myths about women in politics

January 16, 2017 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

It is interesting, that, in discussions about gender equality, “merit” only comes up when we are speaking about women taking up positions that are traditionally male. Nobody questions whether it is meritocratic that, say, prostitution is a predominantly female profession, or that a disproportionate amount of women work in underpaid caring jobs. Similarly, to imagine…

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Filed Under: feminism Tagged With: Ecuador, Maria Miller, politics, Quotas, Rwanda, Senegal, WEC

When Obama addressed the African Onion

August 5, 2015 By MsAfropolitan 19 Comments

In his sales pitch aka his “address to the African Union” last week, US president Barack Obama gave Africans a worse deal than Amazon.com, Inc. gives book publishers on any given day.  Obama’s pitch was pally, persuasive and punchy as any skilled salesperson’s. Terms like ‘partnership’, ‘development’, ‘co-operation’ and ‘opportunity’ were abundantly used. But make no mistake, its intention was…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation Tagged With: African trade, African Union, Barack Obama, Corruption, politics, Social Criticism

Islamophobia in Europe and in Africa should not be conflated

April 4, 2015 By MsAfropolitan 4 Comments

Fifteen years ago, before 9/11, hardly anyone used the term ‘Islamophobia’. Today, the term is used all the time, especially by liberals, but rarely with an accompanying reflection of its corresponding relationship to the ongoing “war against terror”. Islamophobia is discussed as though it appeared out of nowhere. And not, as it were, as a term that firmly…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Al-Shabab, boko haram, gallery, International Relations, Islam, Kenya, Nigeria, pan-Africanism, politics, Religion, Terror, war

So you want to know what men really gain from patriarchy?

July 2, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 19 Comments

Patriarchy is an unfashionable term. But it is also the only term that describes the oldest, most widespread and most enduring form of governance. It is much older than democracy, for example. It seems to me that patriarchy, which is the ‘system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: feminism, gender, immortality, Life, patriarchy, politics, Religion, Spirituality, symbols

What does feminine power look like?

October 24, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 13 Comments

Women and power is a current hot topic. It was much discussed at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, for instance, where I too spoke about this very theme last week. It has also been recently debated at the Harvard Business School, FEMNET and  BBC’s 100 Women campaign. I welcome the increased emphasis on this topic because…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: feminism, gender, identity, politics, power, women's issues

What is the purpose of education? What can we learn from Liberia

August 28, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 14 Comments

Out of all the alarming news that we receive on any given day, the story about all 25,000 school-leavers failing a test of admission to the University of Liberia hit me like a can of whoop-ass yesterday! The Liberian newspaper, The News, has since reported that the university has agreed to lower the entry standards slightly to enable some permissions and…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, children, happiness, Liberia, pan-Africanism, politics

Thoughts on “Women Rising: Political Leadership in Africa”

July 21, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 14 Comments

I just watched Women Rising: Political Leadership in Africa, a documentary by FEMNET and UNDP and thought I’d share it with you all here (embedded below). To me, the need for more women in political leadership is possibly the most urgent task for the African feminist agenda. If women are not determining the future of…

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Filed Under: Africa, feminism Tagged With: African feminism, African women, African Women's Decade, politics, power, women's issues

Can Africans have multiple subcultures? A response to “Exorcising Afropolitanism”

April 3, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 33 Comments

On 24 June 2011, over 5,000 people showed up for an event at the V&A Museum in London titled “Friday Late: Afropolitans”. Now, packing the world famous museum is usually the function of western art and high fashion, but on this night the crowd came to listen to artists like Spoek Mathambo, taste palm wine…

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Filed Under: Africa, Pop Culture Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, Afropolitan, identity, politics

Barack Obama, villain or hero?

January 23, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 5 Comments

When it comes to places, the affection that I have for my hometown, Lagos, is matched only by a sort of nostalgia that I harbour towards Tampere, the Finnish city I’m from, which shapes many of my memories but in which I’ve never lived. Yet, my being Scandinavian feels like a secret. Not from anyone, I…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, Social Criticism Tagged With: decolonisation, identity, mixed race, politics, stereotypes

Nigeria does not have democracy

September 10, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 4 Comments

“Nigeria does not have democracy” I tweeted last week, resulting in a brief discussion which Diary of a Media Junkie has put into a storify board. This post develops from that tweet. First of all, let’s adopt a simple definition (by Robert Dahl) of democracy as a political system that allows meaningful competition for positions of…

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Filed Under: Africa Tagged With: Africa, politics

7 key issues in African feminist thought

August 16, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 47 Comments

  Firstly, it is important to say that when it comes to theory, it’s more accurate to speak of African feminisms than of one almighty ‘African feminism’. Not all African feminists agree with each other – luckily – as this would hinder deep reflection of issues such as those listed below, yet respecting differences whilst recognising…

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Filed Under: Africa, Decolonisation, feminism, Genesis featured posts, seven, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, African feminism, decolonisation, gender, identity, politics, Spirituality

Sex, Religion and Hair Weaves

February 29, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 14 Comments

Sex Havelock Ellis, one of the most successful sexologists of the 20th century believed that sexual intercourse between men and women was based on animal courtship which he defined as “the pursuit and conquest of the male”. The female, he said, plays a game where she pretends to resist in order to be caught. He…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, Afro hair, beauty ideals, identity, politics, Religion

#OccupyNigeria – 7 essential reads about the protests in Nigeria (with additional updates)

January 9, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

When it comes to the ongoing protests and the labour strike in Nigeria it isn’t easy to get a clear perspective of the situation without being in the country. There are many articles by journalists and bloggers who unfortunately aren’t bothering to understand the contextual particularities of the bombings and of the #OccupyNigeria protests. As…

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Filed Under: Africa, seven Tagged With: Africa, Nigeria, politics

No longer at ease

April 9, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

I am writing this on my porch in Nigeria. I am surrounded by beauty. It is midday and the sun is shining. Pink bougainvillea is keeping me cool and wherever I look I see different types of leaves that must have inspired every single pattern that exists in this world. I am drinking a ginger…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, politics, Religion, Spirituality

Feminism. African Studies. Social Criticism.

Hi! I'm Minna Salami, I'm a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish writer and social critic, and the founder of this blog. Read my full bio here

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more articles

Black feminism and the polycrisis

March 17, 2023 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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New writing on the Eco Gender Gap

February 16, 2023 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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