Paper Short Abstract:

This paper analyzes the intersections of decolonial feminist theory, the application of a critical anthropological perspective and empathy in the execution of a project for women’s empowerment in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, exploring the relationships between the different agents involved.

Paper Abstract:

This paper proposes to analyze the intersections of decolonial feminist theory and the application of a critical anthropological perspective to an ongoing project for women’s empowerment in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, exploring the relationships between the different agents involved.

It looks at the (im)possibility of establishing horizontal relations between the players: the target communities, foreign and local NGOs, foreign and local universities and the anthropologist. In this sense, the anthropologist faces what Djamila Ribeiro (2020) calls her own “place of enunciation”, her whiteness and her colonial heritage (Bullen, 2017).

It also explores the complexities of moving between a decolonial and/or feminist perspective in a region with a complex cultural, religious and political make-up and a persisting situation of gender based violence and female genital mutilation. It addresses the limitations of language and the use of translators, the problems for mobility and the priorities of sustenance.

As a strategy for upsetting dichotomies such as colonial-decolonial, North/South, religious/feminist, we consider the proposal to create an Africa-India-Europe triangle of synergies by bringing to the project facilitators from a feminist organization in India who will provide training for local Ethiopian trainers.

Finally, we ask how far feminist empathy can help or hinder an African anthropology.

RIBEIRO, Djamila (2020) Lugar de enunciación, Ediciones Ambulantes.

BULLEN, Margaret (2017) “¿Puede hablar de feminismo decolonial una antropóloga feminista blanca?”, en SOS Racismo/SOS Arrazakeria (coord.) Islamofobia y Género. pp. 102-111