The chapter appears in a Cultural Histories Series published by Bloomsbury.
A chapter authored by Sheila Otieno, assistant professor of religious studies and distinguished emerging scholar in religious studies, was published as part of Bloomsbury Publishing’s Cultural Histories series.
The series is a multi-volume set that surveys the social and cultural construction of specific subjects across six historical periods, from Antiquity to the Modern Age. Otieno’s chapter, titled “Poverty and Gender: A Cultural History,” appears in Volume 6 of the Anthology, “A Cultural History of Poverty,” edited by Steven Beaudoin and Richard Axtell, which covers the Modern Age.
The chapter thoughtfully applies insights from Womanist and African feminist thinkers to examine poverty and gender as central global ethical issues. It discusses how Nnobi women in Igboland, Nigeria, historically challenged gender and patriarchal norms by leveraging religio-cultural categories to gain wealth and influence. Highlighting the persistence of the gender pay gap, it notes that labor and wages are largely male-centered and thus discriminate against non-male agents.
By explaining how women and LGBTQ individuals navigate these constraints, Otieno argues that women and other genders tend to produce unusual labor market outcomes, which are still measured using male statistics and language, thereby greatly undermining their effort, productivity and value.
The chapter also advocates viewing poverty as a collective moral issue rooted in communities rather than in individual agents, emphasizing how labor markets continue to erode traditional religio-cultural practices across Africa and Asia, such as the selection of trokosi shrine guardians in Ghana and the exploitation of widows and their inheritance in various African contexts.
Covering broad global issues faced by women, the chapter underscores how systemic poverty affects women worldwide. It calls for just treatment and community-focused socioethical interventions to address the disproportionate impact of capitalist systems on non-male laborers and their labor.