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Engendering Critical Spatial Literacy: Migrant Asante Women and the Politics of Urban Space

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Gender Epistemologies in Africa

Abstract

The power of spatial configurations in our everyday social practices and ideological constructions of place and identity cannot be denied. When it comes to issues of power and socio-physical space, women of predominantly African descent were and still are at the bottom of the barrel (at which level classism, racism, and sexism violently intersect). This phenomenon is evident in various forms and degrees all over the world, especially within the urban context. Thus you will find that women of African descent are often in the majority at the bottom of the urban power hierarchy in ‘third-world’ cities, such as Accra, as well as in diasporic cities, such as Los Angeles. The unequal development of urban space is clearly represented in the low spatial positioning of these women. This positioning also has grave implications for their struggle for place in the social construction of spatiality, their understanding of their urban social practices, and their identity construction.

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Authors
  1. Epifania Amoo-Adare
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stony Brook University, USA

    Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyĕwùmí

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© 2011 Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyĕwùmí

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Amoo-Adare, E. (2011). Engendering Critical Spatial Literacy: Migrant Asante Women and the Politics of Urban Space. In: Oyĕwùmí, O. (eds) Gender Epistemologies in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230116276_6

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