Introduction: Ethics and Philosophy, African Women’s Perspective

Abstract

This book maps the philosophical and ethical paradigms African women proposed in propagating liberation theology. Through the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (Circle), they set out to generate women-focused theologies of liberation. The Circle was launched with a clarion call for African women from every country, religion, and culture to produce theological treatises that liberate and empower women from oppression within their communities and in the academic environment. The book acknowledges the many challenges facing African women and critically assesses the achievements of the Circle. It also suggests the philosophical, theological, and ethical paths to re-envision the liberational agenda, long sought by the Circle. It answers the following questions: How did African women theologians re-imagine the available ethical paradigms? What original ethical/philosophical ideas did they generate? How did their ethical frameworks shape the theologies and interpretations they developed? What purposes did their ethical/philosophical paradigm serve? How does the ethical/philosophical rendering intersect with various social categories such as gender, race, class, sexuality, capitalism, colonialism, neo-liberal economy, environmental degradation, and pandemics, in addition to interreligious and ethnic conflicts? How do African women theologians problematize the above oppressive social structures and categories, and what liberating frameworks do they propose? Finally, the book considers how effectively the Circle’s ethical theories, models, and frameworks could inform the future work of justice and liberation of women and the whole Earth community.