Podcast Summary: Can Feminism Be African? A Conversation with Minna Salami

Podcast: New Books Network (Open Society Ideas)
Host: Aisha Osori
Guest: Minna Salami
Date: November 20, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the provocative question posed by Minna Salami’s book, Can Feminism Be African? The conversation explores the intersections of feminism, African identity, knowledge production, education, and power structures. By examining the philosophical, historical, and practical layers of African feminism, Salami and host Aisha Osori challenge listeners to rethink assumptions about feminism’s place—and potential—within African contexts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Reframing African Feminism

• Countering Assumptions
  Salami opens by rejecting the idea that African feminism is simply a “report card” of oppression:

  • “I wrote this book to vehemently counter that assumption that this is what African feminism is solely about...As a movement and a political philosophy, it encompasses so much more than that.” (03:20)

• Focus on Political Philosophy
  Rather than only responding to material conditions, Salami wants to delve into what African feminism says about the continent and the world (03:40).

The Title as a Paradox

• Intersections & Paradoxes
  Salami explains that the title itself is intentionally paradoxical to spur critical thought:
  • “All my work...is so much shaped by paradox and by the kind of space of contradiction and tension and things not neatly aligning together.” (05:13)
  • She draws parallels to famous paradoxical feminist statements, e.g., Audre Lorde’s “The master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house” and Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” (06:04-07:05).

Defining African Feminism

• Unpacking Core Concepts
  Salami divides her book—and analysis—into three core inquiries: Africa, Feminism, and Being:
  • “The title question really forced me into the space of having to first unpack what do we mean by the word Africa? And then...feminism and also...be in the title question, what does it mean to be in the context of Africa?” (08:16)

Origins of Patriarchy

• Historical Roots
  Salami traces patriarchy’s emergence to the agricultural revolution:

  • “Before that, hunter gatherers didn’t have the kinds of governance systems...the agricultural revolution...made land precious...Men...would start to possess land...thereafter they began...to also then want to possess women and children.” (09:42)

• Nationalism and Patriarchy
  The rise of borders and nation-states is linked to patriarchy and land possession (10:29).

Nation-States, Borders & Feminist Responses

• Can Nation-States Be Equitable?
  Salami doubts that escaping nation-states is immediately possible:

  • “If we look at our political global order right now...the nation state is becoming just more strong with every day.” (11:51)
  • The challenge: “If we do not have a choice in the present moment...then as feminists, what do we do?” (12:32)

• The Power of Language
  Creating new lexicon to describe and challenge injustices is one feminist strategy:

  • “Language is something that I have a deep preoccupation and love affair with...I want to acknowledge that language is not absolute...but it is the most powerful tool that humans have in terms of shifting our desires, our internal understandings of ourselves, in order to shift also our external reality.” (12:43-13:42)

• Legacy of Decolonization Thinkers
  Citing Senghor and Césaire, the conversation touches on the limits of state sovereignty and the enduring dominance of colonial educational paradigms (14:37-16:13).

The Teacher-Student Dynamic and Colonial Education

• Impact on Critical Thought
  Salami highlights the perpetuation of a “teacher-student” duality as colonial legacy:

  • “We have been educated under a very dominant conventional prism...Euro-patriarchal...particularly those of us who were educated in previously colonized countries.” (17:03)
  • True feminist freedom requires deconstructing these power-laden educational models (18:20).

• Current State of African Education
  Through researching school curricula, Salami found “it was so identical to the colonial education I'd received, except that it now has these sprinkles of a Pan Africanist flair” (21:27).

Pan-Africanism & Masculinity

• Africanness as Male
  Despite matrilineal histories, Salami contends, “The continent...remains deeply patriarchal. So much so that...even the very notion of Africanness is conflated with maleness.” (23:19)

  • Patriarchy in Africa is unique for remaining authentically “paternal,” compared to more recent forms of Western capitalist male dominance (24:20-25:40).

• Notable Quote:

  • “Africa is defined from the threshold of masculinity. And I don't want to dismiss or belittle the fact of matrilineality...but they are still operating within a patriarchal structure.” (23:44)

The Pitfalls of Tokenism & Gender-and-Development (GAD)

• On Tokenistic Approaches
  Appointing women under patriarchal systems does not equal feminist progress:

  • “He would be a champion for showing how women can also participate in patriarchal cultures...What would be more significant were if he...moved away from a militarist approach, from homophobia, from state control of all media and arresting independent journalists...” (26:35)

• Feminism vs. GAD
  Salami critiques the conflation of GAD with feminism:

  • “The backlash has many faces, but one of them is the complete takeover of the feminist space by GAD...Gender and development...is not the enemy...But this is not feminism.” (27:41)

The Importance of Clarity and Political Philosophy

• Clarifying Historical and Philosophical Roots
  Salami argues for clear distinctions between proto-feminism and the actual African feminist movement:

  • “Proto-feminism is when individual women...challenged male dominance...prior to the invention of the feminist movement...The feminist movement is officially sparked in the early 20th century...African feminist movement starts in the 1970s.” (31:16-32:50)
  • “To have clarity that actually the African feminist movement starts in the 1970s. From there, it changes everything.” (32:36)

• Proposals for Feminist Action
  Salami recommends:

  1. Developing and employing new language to contest entrenched power structures (13:00, 29:46)
  2. Grappling seriously with the political philosophy of African feminism
  3. Maintaining clarity and distinctiveness in the feminist movement’s narrative, especially regarding its origins and distinctions from GAD (29:46-33:04)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Minna Salami on the weight of her project:
  “There were days where I just could almost not bring myself to it because it felt so much like a wound, like I was addressing so many wounds in a sense.” (07:58)

• On the enduring power of patriarchal figures in Africa:
  “Even when we look at any domain of leadership...we see a lot of fathers, the father figure, the passing of power between father, son and so on.” (25:35)

• On educational curricula:
  “It was so identical to the colonial education I'd received, except that it now has these sprinkles of a Pan Africanist flair, like, send your children to Britain so that they can come back with African pride. It's tragic.” (21:27)

• On tokenistic gender representation:
  “If [a leader] wakes up one morning and decides to make half of his cabinet women...Absolutely not. I think he would be a champion for showing how women can also participate in patriarchal cultures.” (26:35)

• On the “backlash” against feminism:
  “One of them is the complete takeover of the feminist space by GAD...and GAD...is not the enemy...But this is not feminism.” (27:41)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:46] – Salami explains motivation for the book and counters assumptions about African feminism
• [04:35] – The paradoxical title and its historical feminist parallels
• [08:57] – Exploring the origins of patriarchy and its ties to the agricultural revolution
• [10:29-12:38] – Discussion on nation-states, borders, and the feminist response
• [12:38] – Importance of language and lexicon in feminist activism
• [16:13-19:45] – The persistence of colonial models in education and their impact on autonomy
• [22:28-25:27] – Intersections of Pan Africanism, matriliny, and patriarchal definitions of Africanness
• [26:35] – The problem with tokenistic “gender equality” under patriarchal regimes
• [29:46-33:04] – Calls to action for African feminists and clarification of the movement’s history

Tone and Final Reflections

The conversation is intellectual but accessible, laced with both urgency and optimism. Salami’s reflections are candid and often vulnerable, especially concerning the difficulties of unlearning colonial paradigms. Both speakers encourage critical self-examination and hope their discussion inspires listeners to engage deeply with the ideas in Salami’s book.

Final Thought (Minna Salami):

“Even though we've covered so much, there is still so much more...The book is...ambitious...I hope that what we've covered provides inspiration for people to pick up the book.” (33:27)