Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Contesting Global Culture: Globalization and Sexual Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Christianity, Globalization, and Protective Homophobia

  • 621 Accesses

Abstract

Globalization influences the contestation of sexuality in Africa. Globalization has compressed the world, widened the levels of transcontinental interactions, broken up space and time in socio-political, cultural, and economic interactions, and increased domestic protectionist identity politics or glocalization, which is the domesticating of the global in localized social settings. In attempts to negotiate local and international socio-political, economic, and religious landscapes, Africans self-select global values to endorse or reject. In the contestation of homosexuality, the process of self-selecting is democratically challenged and disputed by pro-gay and anti-gay rights social movements. Against the accusation of imperialism, Christian transcontinental relations are not only enhanced by globalization but also influenced by the global outreach of Christianity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In many parts of Latin America, reference is made to the LGBTT population, with the second T having been added to distinguish between transgender and transvestite subgroups (210).

  2. 2.

    It is important to note that media is a proven instrument of propaganda. In Southern Africa, Nigerian accent was viewed with distain before the Nollywood movies popularized it. Aside from the number of people imitating Nigerian accent, the word “Igwe” (the Igbo for King) has found itself in Christian popular music in Southern and Eastern Africa.

  3. 3.

    Tiwonge applied for asylum in South Africa, while Steven reportedly married a woman, but died in 2012.

  4. 4.

    African sexual minorities ’ advocacy groups are opposed to economic sanctions generally.

  5. 5.

    26. (4) Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law.

  6. 6.

    27. (1) Every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. (4) The State shall not discriminate directly or indirectly against any person on any ground, including race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, color, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, dress, language, or birth.

References

  • Altman, D. 2004. Sexuality and Globalization. Sexuality Research and Social Policy 1 (1): 63–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amory, D.P. 1997. Homosexuality in Africa: Issues and Debates. A Journal of Opinion 25 (1): 5–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J.J. 2002. The Psychology of Globalization. American Psychologist 57: 774–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartelson, J. 2000. Three Concepts of Globalization. International Sociology 15 (2): 180–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBC. 2010. Uganda Gay Bill Critics Deliver Online Petition. http://bbc.in/1JvYdcu. Accessed 1 December 2014.

  • Boellstorff, T. 2016. Some Notes on New Frontiers of Sexuality and Globalization. In Understanding Global Sexualities: New Frontiers, ed. P. Aggleton et al., 171–187. London: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohman, J. 2004. Toward a Critical Theory of Globalization: Democratic Practice and Multiperspectival Inquiry. Concepts and Transformation 9 (2): 121–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosia, M.J. 2014. Strange Fruit: Homophobia, the State, and the Politics of LGBT Rights and Capabilities. Journal of Human Rights 13 (3): 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2014.919217.

  • Bosia, M.J., and M.L. Weiss, eds. 2013. Global Homophobia States, Movements, and the Politics of Oppression. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, L. 2013. The Problem with Freedom: Homosexuality and Human Rights in Uganda. Anthropological Quarterly 86 (3, Summer): 697–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brah, A. 2002. Global Mobilities, Local Predicaments: Globalization and Critical Imagination. Feminist Review 70: 30–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corboz, J. 2009. Globalisation and Transnational Sexualities. Melbourne: International Sexuality Studies Network. IASSCS.ORG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, S. 1998. Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, T.I. 2008. The Missiological Significance of Listening in a Globalized World of Identities and Differences. In The Anglican Communion and Homosexuality: A Resource to Enable Listening and Dialogue, ed. Phillip Groves, 17–35. London: SPCK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, C.H. 2007. Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fassin, É. 2016. Gender and the Problem of Universals: Catholic Mobilizations and Sexual Democracy in France. Religion and Gender 6 (2): 173–186, 175–177. doi:http://doi.org/10.18352/rg.10157.

  • Gore, M. 2013. Of Hifa and Gays. The Herald, June 13. http://www.herald.co.zw/of-hifa-and-gays/. Accessed 18 December 2014.

  • Greenberg, D.F., and M.H. Bystryn. 1982. Christian Intolerance of Homosexuality American. Journal of Sociology 88 (3): 515–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, G.R. 2004. Globalization, Women and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. Peace Review 17 (1): 79–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoad, N. 2007. African Intimacies: Race, Homosexuality and Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A. 2012. Human Geography: The Basics. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaoma, K. 2009. Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia. Somerville: Political Research Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012. Colonizing African Values: How the U.S. Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa. Somerville: Political Research Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2013. The Marriage of Convenience: The U.S. Christian Right, African Christianity, and Postcolonial Politics of Sexual Identity. In Global Homophobia States, Movements, and the Politics of Oppression, ed. M.J. Bosia and M.L. Weiss, 75–102. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. The Paradox and Tension of Moral Claims: Evangelical Christianity, the Politicization and Globalization of Sexual Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Critical Research on Religion 2 (3): 227–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. Unmasking the Colonial Silence: Sexuality in Africa in the Post-Colonial Context. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 155 (July Special Issue): 49–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemesrud, J. 1977. Equal Rights Plan and Abortion Are Opposed by 15,000 at Rally; Like a Black Baptist Church. The New York Times, November 20.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Klinken, A. 2011. The Homosexual as the Antithesis of “Biblical Manhood”? Heteronormativity and Masculinity Politics in Zambian Pentecostal Sermons. Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa 17 (2): 126–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. Homosexuality, Politics and Pentecostal Nationalism in Zambia. Studies in World Christianity 20 (3): 259–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koshy, N. 2001. Political Dimensions of Globalization. Economic and Political Weekly 36 (18): 1513–1517. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4410573 27. Accessed 10 June 2009.

  • Manion, A., and R. Morgan. 2006. The Gay and Lesbian Archives. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 67: 29–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moen, C.M. 1996. The Evolving of the Christian Right. Political Science & Politics 29 (3): 461–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Movius, L. 2010. Cultural Globalization and Challenges to Traditional Communication Theories. Journal of Media and Communication 2 (1): 6–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mugerwa, Y. 2010. 450,000 Sign to Kill Anti-Gay Bill. Daily Monitor, March 2. http://bit.ly/1NInmVk. Accessed 1 December 2014.

  • Naturinda, S. 2011. Anti-gay Activists Call for Passing of Bill Against Homosexuality. The Daily Monitor, April 7. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/688334-1140310-anx8ptz/index.html

  • Nyeck, S.N. 2016. African Religions, the Parapolitics of Discretion and Sexual Ambiguity in African Oral Epics. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 155 (Special Issue): 88–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obendorf, S. 1999. Homosexual Rights and the Non-Western World: A Postcolonial Reading of Homosexual Rights in International Human Rights Law. Third World Legal Studies 15: Article 7. http://scholar.valpo.edu/twls/vol15/iss1/7.

  • Okeowo, A. 2012. Gay and Proud in Uganda. New Yorker, August 6. www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/tny15/2.html#slide_ss_0=1. Accessed 7 January 2013.

  • Oni, A.A. 2005. Globalization and Its Implication on African Culture and Development: Challenges for Education. International Journal of African and African American Studies IV (2): 9–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, M.B., et al. 2007. Globalization, Structural Violence, and LGBT Health: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. In The Health of Sexual Minorities: Public Health Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations, ed. I.H. Meyer and M.E. Northridge, 209–241. New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, Rebecca Todd. 2004. In Search of the Good Life: The Ethics of Globalization. New York: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Povinelli, E.A., and G. Chauncey. 1999. Thinking Sexuality Transnationally: An Introduction. GLQ 5 (4): 439–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robert, D.L. 2008. A Brief History of Mission. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. 2010. Malawi Gay Couple Who “Married” Face Harsh Prison Sentences. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/14/malawi-homosexual-couple-face-prison. Accessed 8 June 2011.

  • Stiglitz, J.E. 2002. Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stohl, C. 2005. Globalization Theory. In Engaging Organizational Communication Theory and Research: Multiple Perspectives, ed. S. May and D.K. Mumby, 223–262. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stychin, C.F. 2004. Same-Sex Sexualities and the Globalization of Human Rights Discourse. McGill Law Journal/Revue de Droit de McGill 49: 951–968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teeple, G. 2000. Globalization and the Decline of Social Reform: Into the Twenty-first Century. Aurora, Ontario: Garamond.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, J. 2003. Globalization and Cultural Identity. In The Global Transformations Reader, ed. D. Held, 2nd ed., 209–241. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2013. Globalization and Culture. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, G.O., and B.G. Haddad. 2016. Boaz as ‘Sugar Daddy’: Re-reading Ruth in the Context of HIV. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 155: 137–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, A. 2002. The Transnational Geography of Sexual Rights. In Truth Claims: Representation and Human Rights, ed. M.P. Bradley and P. Petro, 251–265. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yankuzo, K.I. 2014. Impact of Globalization on the Traditional African Cultures. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences 4: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeung, H.W. 2002. The Limits to Globalization Theory: A Geographic Perspective on Global Economic Change. Economic Geography 78 (3): 285–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Global Christianity & Mission, Boston University School of Theology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kapya Kaoma

Authors
  1. Kapya Kaoma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kaoma, K. (2018). Contesting Global Culture: Globalization and Sexual Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Christianity, Globalization, and Protective Homophobia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66341-8_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation