Women’s Recipe for the African Policom Stew

Abstract

The power play between political actors, people and the media has given rise to studies on global peculiarities of political communication. Research on African political communication (Afropolicom), a relatively new field, has drawn on African histories, cultures and values, and a unique communication system. The nature of Africa’s gender politics, wherein postcolonial realities present continuity of few women in politics and public offices, gives rise to African feminist inquiry on power politics and inequalities. This chapter, adopting an analogy of stew, presents a critical introduction to women’s perspectives on Afropolicom. It engages feminist conceptualization of the interactional model of stakeholders involved in deconstructing androcentric communication patterns. It draws on the legacies of African women leaders to increase understanding of the complexities of Afropolicom. This chapter, thus, presents a new model for theorizing feminine and feminist idiosyncrasies, campaign emphasis, leadership styles and strategies engaged in Afropolicom.