Communities and Identities: Gendered Reconstructionist Ideas for Africa

The task of reconstructing African identity and community is made particularly difficult by, among other things, the fact that African countries are not homogeneous and the fluidity, relationality, and contextuality of the concept of identity. In light of this complexity, the challenge of such a reconstruction is engaging in an in-depth critical assessment of African cultural values, beliefs, goals, and aspirations, restoring what needs to be restored, jettisoning what is irrelevant, and adding what is truly beneficial from other communities. As a response to this challenge, this article argues that, to be complete and viable, the process of reconstruction must be gendered. It illustrates the process of gendered reconstruction by underscoring what that entails in the areas of women’s lived experience, the home, the workplace/marketplace, and scholarship.