Adapting Gender and Development to Local Religious Contexts : A Decolonial Approach to Domestic Violence in Ethiopia

"This book provides a critical and decolonial analysis of gender and development theory and practice in religious societies through the presentation of a detailed ethnographic study of conjugal violence in Ethiopia. Responding to recent consensus that gender mainstreaming approaches have failed to produce their intended structural changes, Romina Istratii explains that gender and development analytical and theoretical frameworks are often constructed through western Euro-centric lenses ill-equipped to understand gender-related realities and human behaviour in non-western religious contexts and knowledge systems. Instead, Istratii argues for an approach to gender-sensitive research and practice which is embedded in insiders' conceptual understandings as a basis to theorise about gender, assess the possible gendered underpinnings of local issues and design appropriate alleviation strategies. Drawing on a detailed study of conjugal abuse realities and attitudes in two villages and the city of Aksum in Northern Ethiopia, she demonstrates how religious knowledge can be engaged in the design and implementation of remedial interventions. This book carefully evidences the importance of integrating religious traditions and spirituality in current discussions of sustainable development in Africa, and speaks to researchers and practitioners of gender, religion, and development in Africa, scholars of non-western Christianities and Ethiopian studies, and domestic violence researchers and practitioners"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyight Page Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction: the metaphysics of gender and development A brief genealogy of feminist thought around gender Gender theory as a reflection of deeper metaphysics of humanity and gender Western Euro centrism in the paradigm of gender and development Religion in gender and development discourse Domestic violence in gender and development and public health theory A closer look at the epistemological premises of gender based violence research Social norms and public health approaches Accounting better for religious systems and the interface with human behaviour Conducting gender sensitive research within local religious societies The study in Aksum and its approach Concluding thoughts Notes Chapter 2: Linguistic and cosmological translation Revisiting feminist epistemologies in cross cultural gender studies A closer look at gender and religious studies Integrating theology in religious studies Theology informed investigations in Ethiopia Researching intimate partner violence in a safe and inclusive manner Addressing the epistemological issues Learning local languages Making the ‘I’ visible in the research process Integrating dialogical research methods Notes Chapter 3: Intimate partner violence, gender and faith in Ethiopia Directions in the scholarship and unaddressed questions Women’s status in Ethiopia historically and in post revolution Tigray Gender specific socialisation and the influence of the clergy The legal framework on domestic violence and reported cultural influences Research timeline and study areas Notes Chapter 4: The Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo tradition and the conjugal relationship A historical overview of the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo Church Doctrinal and theological foundations of the Church The EOTC’s Judeo Christian character The EOTC’s variegated Patristic tradition The EOTC’s exegetical tradition The traditional Church education and exposure of clergy to theology Teachings on man woman relations, marriage and the conjugal relationship Man woman relations Marriage and divorce The conjugal relationship An eclectic tradition with internal tensions Notes Chapter 5: Conjugal abuse conceptualisations and attitudes Researching conjugal abuse without a predefined terminology Data on conjugal abuse Participants’ discourses of harmful conjugal behaviour and situations Situational or interactional abuse Gender related asymmetries Physical violence Serious conjugal crimes Sexual coercion: a hardly ever discussed issue Local attitudes toward harmful conjugal situations and behaviour Notes Chapter 6: Marriage in the local normative framework Terminological considerations Local depictions of marriage and gender relations in the past and present Marriage and spousal ideals and expectations Kinship expectations and the role of the family in marriage Irregular unions and changing relationship norms Persisting and changing marriage norms and conjugal abuse Notes Chapter 7: Responses to conjugal abuse in the local institutional framework Local police and social courts Local women’s associations The mediation of family, elders and neighbours The salience of the clergy in marriage The discourses of rural clergy life and linkages with conjugal abuse Marriage practices and virginity Teachings about the conjugal relationship Pastoral mediation of conjugal problems and laity responses Notes Chapter 8: Faith, culture and social norms Researching the local religio cultural cosmology The haymanot/bahәl dyad vis-à-vis social norms Position that pronounced faith as cultural heritage and moral norms Position that pronounced faith as conscientious practice Positions that emphasised faith as spiritual experience Religious idiom and social norms Religious gatherings, alcohol consumption and the bahәl/haymanot binary Notes Chapter 9: Faith, marriage and gendered expressions Perceptions about the influence of faith on conjugal behaviour Gendered invocations of religious tradition and faith in marriage Religious beliefs and faith in conjugal life and abusive situations Faith in women’s coping with difficult marriages and in their responses to conjugal abuse Faith in men’s decision making about conjugal behaviour Notes Chapter 10: The individual, human nature and conjugal abuse Ambiguous personality based aetiologies of conjugal abuse The natural dimensions of the human personality ( The relationship between individual parameters and the social dimension The relationship between individual parameters and the spiritual dimension Gendered personalities and implications for attitudes about conjugal abuse Personality and relationship problems through a psychological lens Notes Conclusion: Beyond western ways Beyond western Eurocentric lenses: contextualising conjugal abuse Appropriate approaches for alleviating conjugal abuse in Aksum Leveraging on theology and pastoral mediation A more integrated approach Wider implications and relevance of the study Notes Appendix List of experts consulted Domestic violence experts in Addis Ababa (4) Theologians and Church scholars in Addis Ababa and Meqele Theologians and Church scholars in Aksum Index