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Being a young Muslim woman in Southern Ghana: intersections of nation, religion and gender

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 23:12 authored by Barbara CrossouardBarbara Crossouard, Mairead DunneMairead Dunne, E D Ananga, V Adzahlie-Mensah, C Adu-Yeboah
This paper draws upon recent research that explored Muslim youth identity constructions in southern Ghana. At a time when Muslim youth are often demonised and Islam is represented as incompatible with western democratic ideals, the research explored the intersections of nation, religion, ethnicity and gender in identity narratives of female students in high school and higher education in southern Ghana. After describing the Ghanaian socio-historical context, we outline the post-structural and post-colonial theories used to understand key concepts such as identity and youth. We then describe our methodological approach before presenting our intersectional analysis of data from the focus group discussions. This highlights female youths’ deep commitments to nation and religion, the marginalisation of young Muslim females in this Christian-majority context, and finally, the identity tensions articulated by participants between different Islamic traditions. We further show how all of these identity constructions were intersected by gender.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

ISSN

0258-9001

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Volume

39

Page range

497-513

Department affiliated with

  • Education Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2021-03-02

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2022-11-21

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-03-02

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