This project draws on African feminisms to propose major questions about the agency of girls. The central research questions of the book are: what is the history of girlhood on the ground in various regions of Africa? In African contexts, how are humanistic approaches helping social scientists and development practitioners to unravel some of the seemingly unsolvable challenges? And, finally, in what ways might development projects defined and shaped by adolescent African girls lead us to better understandings of challenges they face and beneficial as well as realistic solutions and critical responses to poverty, development, and inequality? The authors expand the existing conversation by drawing upon epistemological foundations emerging from groundbreaking work in the history of gender in Africa. The data and analyses presented in this work contribute to the fields of African politics, girlhood studies, African feminisms, African histories, and development studies.

Autorentext

Catherine Cymone Fourshey is Professor of History and International Relations and Director of The Griot Institute at Bucknell University, USA. Marla L. Jaksch is the Barbara Meyers Pelson '59 Endowed Chair in Faculty-Student Engagement and Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The College of New Jersey, USA. Relebohile Moletsane is Professor and the JL Dube Chair in Rural Education in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Gender-based Violence and Femicide at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.