Women's and gender studies in Ghana

Abstract

Over the last half century the subject of gender and, in particular, women’s place in society has come of age in Ghanaian scholarly work. Accompanying this have been important contributions from civil society, including increased activism around particular issues such as gender-based violence and women’s economic citizenship. The question of “gender” has gained visibility, and even in popular culture the implications of the gendered architecture of our societies receives attention. While the last several decades have been interesting times for scholars in women and gender studies (WGS), there is currently no single essay that chronicles and analyzes the evolution of the discipline in Ghana. In this chapter, we draw the map of WGS in Ghana, albeit by no means an exhaustive map, reviewing trends in the content, epistemologies, and methodologies of the discipline. We pay attention to the relationship of WGS to “traditional” social science approaches, practices in the academy, as well as relationship to policy. We also analyze both anthropological and ethnographic studies which, though not necessarily cast in the framework of gender studies, nonetheless, provide important impetus for gender analyses, as well as contemporary works that overtly rely on feminist frameworks. Topics covered in these studies include politics and the state; work and livelihoods; religion; health; gender-based violence and in the last few decades, gender and development policy and practice; sexualities and bodily integrity; and women’s organizing. We conclude by suggesting how WGS have benefited from the social sciences, and what the social sciences might learn from the approaches, strategies, and practices of WGS in Ghana over the last 30 years.