Decolonising gender knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa: empirical insights and theoretical innovations from early career researchers—Introduction

This article introduces the Thematic Collection ‘Decolonising Gender Knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa: Empirical Insights and Theoretical Innovations from Early Career Researchers’, edited by Alicia Bowman, Evelyn Garwe and Juliet Thondhlana. It highlights the under-representation of Global South scholars, particularly early career researchers (ECRs), in gender knowledge production in the region and advocates for grounding the study of gender in Africa in local realities and knowledge systems, in line with African feminist perspectives. Moreover, the article positions the collection as a powerful step towards decoloniality not simply by amplifying African perspectives, but by actively creating space for African scholars to shape the future of gender studies. The article discusses how the Thematic Collection fostered the co-production of knowledge by empowering African scholars to develop their own research questions and methodologies, free from Eurocentric constraints, thus promoting complete epistemic freedom. It also showcases the interdisciplinary nature of the Thematic Collection, spanning gender studies, higher education, and legal, labour, and urban studies. Overall, the introduction argues that, by centring the research of African ECRs, established power dynamics can be disrupted, and the dominance of Western-centric paradigms can be challenged.