The Role of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Engendering Theological Higher Education in Africa

Linda Naicker

doi:10.25159/2412-4265/16618

Authors

Linda Naicker University of South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1347-9893

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/16618

Keywords:

Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Gender Equality, Higher Theological Education, the Circle, theological academia

Abstract

This article explores the transformative role of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in engendering higher theological education in Africa. Grounded in African Women’s theology, the study analyses initiatives in championing gender equality, inclusivity, and intersectional solidarity within theological academia. The study highlights the historic journey of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in promoting the integration of gender-sensitive curricular and nurturing a new generation of African women theologians. Methodologically, I adopt a qualitative design and use African Women’s Theology as a lens to understand the transformative strides made by the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians towards engendering theological higher education in Africa.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Ayanga, H. 2016. “Voice of the Voiceless: The Legacy of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.” Verbum et Ecclesia 37 (2): 1–6. https://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v37i2.1580.

Dube, M.1999. “Searching for the Lost Needle: Double Colonisation and Postcolonisation African Feminism.” Studies in World Christianity 5 (2): 213–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/swc.1999.5.2.213.

Fiedler, R. 2017. A History of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians 1989–2007. Mzuni Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh8r2j5.

Gunda, R. 2024. “Decolonizing and Decoloniality in African Women’s Theology.” Ecumenical Review 0 (0): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.1282.

Hinga, T. 1994. “Violence against Women: A Challenge to the Church.” In Pastoral Care in African Christianity: Challenging Essays on Pastoral Theology, edited by H. Kinoti and D. Waruta. 117–133. Nairobi: Acton Publishers.

Kanyoro, M. 2002. “Beads and Strands: Threading More Beads in the Story of the Circle.” In Her Stories: Hidden Histories of Women of Faith in Africa, edited by I. Phiri and S. Nadar. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.

Kanyoro, M. 2002. “Revisiting the History of the Circle.” Paper presented at a conference on Biographies of Women. Kempton Park, South Africa.

Kanyoro, M. 2001. “Engendered Communal Theology: African Women’s Contribution to Theology in the 21st Century.” In Talitha Cum!: Theologies of African Women, edited by N. Njoroge and M. Dube. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/096673500100002704

Kanyoro, M. 2001. “Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Contribution.” In Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible, edited by M. Dube. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Kobo, F. 2018. “A Womanist Dialogue with Black Theology of Liberation in the Twenty-First Century.” PhD Dissertation, University of Pretoria.

Landman, C. 2022. “Journeying with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians on Contextuality (1989–2021).” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 48 (2): 1–19. https://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/11176.

Maseno, L. and E. Mligo. 2019. Women within Religions: Patriarchy, Feminism and the Role of Women in Selected World Religions. Oregon, USA: Wipf and Stock.

Masenya, M. 2000. “African Women Read the Bible.” In Inculturation in the South African Context Various Authors, 65–70. Nairobi: Paulines Publication.

Monohan, B. 2004. “Writing, Sharing, Doing: The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.” Electronic Thesis. Boston, Boston College. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/386.

Nadar, S. 2005. “Searching the Dungeons Beneath our Religious Discourses: The Case of Violence against Women and the ‘Unholy Trinity.’” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, Gender-Based Violence Trilogy 1 (66): 16–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4066530.

Oduyoye, M. 1992. Women and Ritual in Africa. In The Will to Arise: Women, Tradition, and the Church in Africa, edited by M. Oduyoye, and M. Kanyoro: Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.

Oduyoye, M. 1990. “The Search for a Two-winged Theology: Women’s Participation in the Development of Theology in Africa —The Inaugural Address.” In Talitha Qumi! Proceedings of the Convocation of African Women Theologians 1989. Ibadan: Daystar Press. 31–56.

Phiri, I. 2009. “Major Challenges for African Women Theologians in Theological Education (1989–2008).” International Review of Mission 98. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2009.00009.

The History of the Circle. The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. 2021. Accessed 6 June 2022. https://circle.org.za/