The study of African sexuality occupies a critical space in academic discourse, often shaped by tensions between representing structural violence or medicalization and emphasizing sexual pleasure and agency. While the focus on violence and pathology frameworks in African sexuality studies has illuminated pressing social and historical realities, it has also produced an incomplete picture of African experiences. Scholarship on pleasure and non-pathology discourses in African bodies emphasizes agency and cultural richness but does not include all realities. This call for papers seeks to move the conversation forward by exploring how scholarship can critically bridge the gap between violence and agency, pathology, and pleasure in the analysis of African bodies without diminishing the richness of African sexualities or ignoring the health problems in Africa. Contributions are invited from proposals that study frameworks for preserving and celebrating the dignity, agency, and diversity of African identities and experiences while addressing the structural issues that cannot be ignored. Significant questions include but are not limited to these: What theoretical and methodological approaches allow for nuanced, balanced representations of African sexualities? How do indigenous African epistemologies offer new lenses for understanding and representing pathology? What are the ethical responsibilities of scholars in representing African bodies and sexualities? How can scholarship critically incorporate narratives of pathology and violence while respecting African understandings of authenticity and agency?
This panel invites submissions on topics related to African bodies, sexualities, pleasure, health, gender, Indigenous medicine, and intellectual history.
To participate in this panel, please submit a 250-word abstract and a short bio to Oluwasola Daniels (oidaniels@ucdavis.edu) by February 28, 2025.
