The collected essays in Pathos and Power provide a critical exploration of widowhood in Africa through a series of historical and contemporary case studies. The book challenges a simplistic understanding of widowhood by highlighting how the experience varies according to age, class, race, religion, and geographic location. The contributors investigate how the category of widowhood can obscure or reveal various social dynamics while demonstrating the diversity of material, symbolic, and embodied circumstances faced by African widows.

The volume considers the forces shaping the lives of widows by examining the structural and legal challenges they encounter, including discriminatory practices in social, economic, and political spheres. Through discussions of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial contexts, it explores the intersections of custom, law, patriarchy, and feminism while delving into the potentially liberatory opportunities that widowhood sometimes presents. The book also raises broader questions about gender, personhood, marriage, autonomy, and national identity, emphasizing how widowhood informs key conceptual debates in African studies.

Editors Joanna Davidson and Benjamin N. Lawrance bring together scholars across such fields as anthropology, gender studies, history, law, and political science. The authors employ a range of methodologies, including archival research, ethnography, and storytelling, to illuminate widowhood in new and innovative ways. The volume’s rich empirical studies and theoretical insights offer a valuable resource for scholars seeking to understand widowhood and its broader implications in African societies.

CONTRIBUTORS

Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf

Fisayo Ajala

Catherine E. Bolten

Abbass Braham

Mariana Candido

Joanna Davidson

Mariana Dias Paes

Ramadan El-Khouli

Casey Golomski

Juelma Gomes de Matos Ngãla

Benjamin N. Lawrance

Kenda Mutongi

Richard L. Roberts

Enid Schildkrout

Kate Skinner

Wallace Teska

Benjamin Twagira

Sarah J. Zimmerman