Can Feminism be African?: A Conversation with Minna Salami

Nov 20, 2025

Minna Salami, a writer and thought leader in feminist discourse, explores the complex relationship between feminism and African identity. She challenges existing assumptions, linking patriarchy to historical developments like agriculture. Salami advocates for a new lexicon to foster feminist change and critiques the entrenched nature of nationalism and its interplay with patriarchy. She emphasizes the importance of decolonizing education and rethinking narratives, urging a robust African feminist philosophy built on clarity and action.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

African Feminism As Political Philosophy

Minna Salami reframes African feminism as a political philosophy, not merely a report on suffering.
She wants the movement to address ideas about Africa and the world, not just statistics of hardship.

INSIGHT

Paradox As A Generative Tool

Salami uses paradox to unsettle assumptions about Africa and feminism and to provoke new questions.
She links her title to feminist paradoxes like Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" to jolt readers into reflection.

INSIGHT

Agriculture Spawned Patriarchal Power

Salami traces patriarchy's deep roots to the agricultural revolution and property claims.
She links land ownership and the rise of possessive social structures to the emergence of male dominance.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Transcript of the interview

Minna Salami is a writer, social critic, and thought leader on feminism, knowledge production, and the aesthetics and structures of power. She formerly served as Programme Chair and Senior Fellow at THE NEW INSTITUTE, where she led the Black Feminism and the Polycrisis programme. Her work sits at the intersection of ideas, culture, and systems thinking, with a commitment to making complex theories accessible through books, essays, public speaking, and creative projects.

She is the author of Can Feminism Be African? (Harper Collins, 2025) and Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone (Bloomsbury, 2020), which has been translated into multiple languages. Her writing also appears in numerous anthologies and educational publications exploring feminism, African philosophy, media, and cultural criticism.

Her work has featured in The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Ideas Letter, Project Syndicate, and The Philosopher, and she has delivered talks at global institutions including TEDx, the Institute of Arts and Ideas, the European Commission, the Oxford and Cambridge Unions, Yale, and Singularity University at NASA.

Salami was the creative director of the short film Black Feminism and the Polycrisis, which won the Silver Award for Public Service and Activism at the 2024 Lovie Awards.

From 2019 to 2022, she co-directed Activate, an intersectional feminist movement that supported minoritised women in politics and community organising through visibility campaigns, mentoring, and fundraising. The initiative played a key role in shifting narratives and resources toward a more inclusive political landscape in the UK.

She has also worked as a Research Associate and Editor at Perspectiva, advised governments on gender equality, developed national school curricula, and curated cultural events at institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Her blog, MsAfropolitan, launched in 2010, has reached over a million readers and remains a platform for exploring feminist and African-centred approaches to contemporary life.

Salami is a Full Member of the Club of Rome, a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, and serves on the advisory boards of the African Feminist Initiative at Penn State University and Public Humanities at Cambridge University Press, as well as the council of the British Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Links to References:
Apart Together – essay on Leopold Senghor and Aimé Césaire’s radical vision for the world

Africa’s Populist Trap for The Ideas Letter

The Niger River and the Dearth of History: Deconstructing the Myths of Mungo Park by Ezenwa E. Olumba

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science