Abstract
In hair discourse, the issues of poverty eradication (SDG 1) and gender equality (SDG 5) intersect. Many prevalent economic assessments of poverty use monetary indicators, but little recognition is given to non-numerically measured forms of poverty. This work focuses on intellectual poverty as an undertheorized dimension of poverty by invoking a metaphorical “hairy-hairless” dichotomy of Scholarly African Feminists (SAF, or “Hairy”) and Indigenous-Survivalist African Feminists (I-SAF, or “Hairless”). I-SAF are unaware of their potential and lack the critical perspective needed to combat feminized poverty, while SAF suffer epistemic invisibility in global conversations. This article asks whether intellectual poverty is also feminized: What have African feminisms achieved with regards to ameliorating feminized poverty? Why has intellectual poverty persisted? What is wrong with survivalism as an approach for combating intellectual poverty (and by extension, other dimensions of poverty)? How may SAF and I-SAF interact to combat intellectual poverty? The article defines intellectual poverty as the inverse of intellectual prosperity. Just as intellectual prosperity promotes all-round prosperity, so intellectual poverty can contribute to poverty more generally.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This characterization is drawn from the author’s personal observations of feminist interactions. As much as people can connect with this characterization, they mostly downplay these interactions. I hope this text will be a good reference point for such characterization in the future.
References
Acholonu, Catherine. 1995. Motherism: The afrocentric alternative to feminism. Owerri: Afa Publications.
Ahikire, Josephine. 2014. African feminism in context: Reflections on the legitimation battles, victories and reversals. Feminist Africa 19: 7–23.
Aid for Africa 2013. Five Reasons to Educate an African Girl- and Change Everything. http://www.aidforafrica.org. Accessed 14 May 2017.
Ajisogun, O.R., and S.A. Omotoso. 2018. Spatial realities of salon cultures among female undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies 12 (8): 86–105.
Alkire, Sabina. 2007. The missing dimensions of poverty data: An introduction, Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Working Paper No. 00. Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. http://ophi.org.uk/research/missing-dimensions/background/. Accessed 10 Apr 2018.
Appadurai, Arjun. 2004. The capacity to aspire: Culture and the terms of recognition. In Culture and public action, ed. Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton, 59–84. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Azodo, Ada U. 1997. Issues in African feminism: A syllabus. Women’s Studies Quarterly 25: 201–207.
Bartlet, Robert. 1994. Symbolic meanings of hair in the middle ages. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 4: 43–60.
Bernard, Tanguy, Stefan Dercon, Kate Orkin, and Alemayehu S. Taffesse. 2014. The future in mind: Aspirations and forward-looking behaviour in rural Ethiopia, 3rd June 2014. http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Feature%20Story/Africa/afr-tanguybernard.pdf. Accessed 28 Mar 2018.
Botha, F. 2010. The impact of education attainment on household poverty in South Africa. Acta Academica 42 (4): 122–147.
Bourdieu, P. 1986. The forms of capital. In Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education, ed. J.G. Richardson, 241–258. New York: Greenwood Press.
Boxenhorn, David. 2004. Culture of intellectual poverty. Rishon Rishon. http://www.rishon-rishon.com/archives/048756.html. Accessed 3 July 2018.
Coleman, J.S. 1988. Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology Supplementary 94: 95–120.
Corcoran, Mary. 2001. Mobility, persistence, and the consequences of poverty for children: Child and adult outcomes. In Understanding poverty, ed. Sheldon H. Danziger and Robert H. Haveman, 127–161. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
Edwin, Shirin. 2006. We belong here, too: accommodating African muslim feminist theory via Zaynab Alkali’s the virtuous woman and the cobwebs and other stories. Muse 27: 18.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2000. Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Emeagwali, Philip. 2006. Ideas, not money, alleviate poverty. A Keynote speech at University of Alberta, Canada, September 23.
Flechtner, Svenja. 2016. Aspirations and the persistence of poverty and inequalities. Flensburg: Zentrale Hochschulbibliothek Flensburg.
Goredema, Ruvimbo. 2010. African feminism: The African woman’s struggle for identity. African Yearbook of Rhetoric 1: 33–41.
Gouws, Amanda. 2004. Establishing gender studies programmes in South Africa: The role of gender activism. In Gender Activism and Studies in Africa, CODESRIA Gender Series 3. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Hooks, Bell. 2000. Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Cambridge: South End Press.
ILO. 2008. Report IV: Promotion of rural employment for poverty reduction. Geneva: ILO Publications.
Jayaraman, Gayatri. 2016. Now, let’s explain intellectual poverty. http://www.dailyo.in/politics/intellectuals-poverty-liberals-standard-of-living-education. Accessed 4 Apr 2017.
Kakwani, Nanak, and Jacques Silber. 2007. The many dimensions of poverty. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lawless, A. 2018. Growing lawless hair in white Australia. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies. 12 (8): 119–125.
Litvack, J. 2007. The poverty mapping application in Morocco. In More than a pretty picture: Using poverty maps to design better policies and interventions, ed. T. Bedi, A. Coudouel, and K. Simler, 208–225. New York: The World Bank. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/.
Maxwell, Simon. 1999. The meaning and measurement of poverty. https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3095.pdf. Accessed 26 Sept 2018.
Mba, Nina. 1989. Kaba and khaki: Women and the militarised state in Nigeria. In Women and the State in Africa, ed. Jane L. Parpart and Kathleen A. Staudt, 69–90. Boulder: Lynne Reiner.
Morduch, Jonathan. 2006. Concepts of poverty. In Handbook on poverty statistics: Concepts, methods and policy use, 23–50. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/poverty/pdf/un_book%20final%2030%20dec%2005.pdf. Accessed 26 Sept 2018.
Mukanga, Chola. 2013. Intellectual poverty in Zambia. Zambian Economist, February 6. http://www.zambian-economist.com/2013/02/intellectual-poverty-in-zambia.html. Accessed 16 Sept 2018.
Nzegwu, Nkiru. 1996. Philosophers’ intellectual responsibility to African females. American Philosophical Association’s (APA) Newsletter 90: 130–135.
OECD and Post-2015 Reflections. Element 1. Paper. www.oecd.org/dac/POST-2015multidimensionalpoverty.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar 2017.
Okonjo-Ogunyemi, Chikwenye. 1996. African wo/man palava. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Olaopa, Tunji. 2017. Is Nigeria wired to be a player in the knowledge age? This Day Newspaper, March 26.
Omotoso, Sharon. A 2015. http://theconversation.com/untangling-the-knotty-politics-of-african-womens-hair-48252. The Conversation, October 6. Accessed 3 Apr 2018.
Omotoso, Sharon A. 2016. Philosophy and politics of hair: A perspective to economic crises and human rights abuses. Lecture delivered at the 9th Prof. Bolanle Awe Annual Lecture for Gender, Social Justice, Reproductive Health and Development – September 2016.
Omotoso, Sharon A. 2018. Media, society, and the postcolonial state. In The Palgrave handbook of African colonial and postcolonial history, ed. M. Shanguhyia and T. Falola, 1285–1303. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
———. 2018a. Gender and hair politics: An African philosophical analysis. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies. 12 (8): 5–19.
———. 2018b. Media and politics in Africa. In The Palgrave handbook of African politics, governance and development, ed. S. Oloruntoba and T. Falola, 553–571. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Omotoso, Sharon A., and Joshua O. Fajimbola. 2017. Armed conflict, terrorism and feminized poverty in developing countries: the Nigerian example. Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation 6: 83–98.
Oyewumi, Oyeronke. 1997. Invention of women: Making an African sense of Western gender discourses. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Pergament, Deborah. 1999. It’s not just hair: Historical and cultural considerations for an emerging technology. Chicago-Kent Law Review 75: 41–59.
Plan International. 2015. Progress and obstacles to girls’ education in Africa. www.planinternational.org/progressandobstaclestogirlseducation. Accessed 31 Mar 2017.
Robison, L.J., A.A. Schmid, and M.E. Siles. 2002. Is social capital really capital? Review of Social Economy 601: 1–21.
Salami, Minna. 2013. African women are blazing a feminist trail – why don’t we hear their voices? The Guardian, September 23.
Sandberg, Sheryl 2013. Lean In: Women, work, and the will to lead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Sindzingre, Alice. 2007. The multidimensionality of poverty: An institutionalist perspective. In The many dimensions of poverty, ed. Nanak Kakwani and Jacques Silber, 52–74. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sotunsa, Bolanle. 2008. Feminism & gender discourse: The African experience. Asaba: Asaba Publications.
Syonmwene, Anne, and Jonah Nyaga Kindiki. 2015. Women education and economic development in Kenya: Implications for curriculum development and implementation process. Journal of Education and Practice 6 (15): 38–43.
Tacoli, C. 2010. Internal mobility, migration and changing gender relations: Case study perspectives from Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam. In The international handbook of gender and poverty: Concepts, research, policy, ed. Sylvia Chant. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Townsend, Peter. 1979. Poverty in the United Kingdom: A survey of household resources and standards of living. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Tvedten, Inge, M. Paulo, and M. Tuominen 2010. ‘A woman should not be the boss when a man is present’. Gender and poverty in Southern Mozambique. CMI Report.
UNESCO. 2014. Education for all: Global monitoring report. Teaching and learning for all. Paris: UNESCO.
UNICEF. 2000. Poverty reduction begins with children. www.unicef.org/publications/index_5616.html Accessed 28 Mar 2017.
———. 2015. Girls education and gender equality. www.unicef.org/education. Accessed 28 Mar 2017.
United Nations. 1995. The copenhagen declaration and programme of action. New York: United Nations.
———. 2009. Women, Poverty and Economics. UN Women, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.
World Bank. 1996. Poverty in the midst of plenty. The challenge of growth with inclusion. A World Bank poverty assessment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
———. 2017. Educating girls, ending child marriage. www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2017/08/22/educating-girls-ending-child-marriage. Accessed 20 Dec 2017.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Omotoso, S.A. (2020). Hairiness and Hairlessness: An African Feminist View of Poverty. In: Beck, V., Hahn, H., Lepenies, R. (eds) Dimensions of Poverty. Philosophy and Poverty, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31711-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31711-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31710-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31711-9
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)