Pathways to African Feminism and Development: Journal of the African Women Studies Centre

This 2026 special issue is grounded in AWSC’s commitment to advancing African feminist scholarship that centres lived experience, community knowledge, and decolonial intellectual traditions. Although African Women’s Studies programmes consistently generate rigorous and innovative work, much of this scholarship remains unpublished and therefore absent from wider academic debates. The issue seeks to bridge this gap by transforming scholarly works into peer‑reviewed contributions, strengthening mentorship and scholarly capacity, and affirming the Academy as a vital site of African feminist knowledge production.

Aim of the Special Issue

This special issue aims to advance, amplify, and contribute to the creation of African feminist knowledge while building the capacity of scholars through interdisciplinary scholarship and mentorship aligned with AWSC’s mandate.

Concept Note: A Special Journal Issue on African Feminist Knowledge; Scholarship, African Epistemologies, and Interdisciplinary Feminist Inquiry

Pathways to African Feminism and Development is an annual international open-access and peer-reviewed journal of the African Women's Studies Centre (AWSC), University of Nairobi. The multidisciplinary journal seeks to promote scholarship on African women in all spheres of life, focusing on theories and practices of African women's studies, both on the continent and in the diaspora.

The journal invites researchers, academicians, practitioners, professionals, as well as PhD students from Kenya, the region, and globally with an interest in advancing African women’s studies, to submit their original and unpublished research contributions to be considered for publication in Volume 10, Issue 1, 2025. The submissions should align with the overarching theme and address at least one of the outlined sub-themes.