In 2022, historian Adam Tooze introduced the term “polycrisis” to capture the complex web of crises like climate change, pandemics, inequality, wars, and economic downturns impacting our world. It quickly became a buzzword in influential circles—from the World Bank to university lecture halls and podcasts. When a term gains such explosive traction within key institutions, it becomes important for feminists to engage with it. Patriarchal power typically takes refuge in “high-level” decision-making and agenda-setting platforms, precisely where the term polycrisis also travels. Black feminists a ..read more

I am pleased to share a recent interview with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) We spoke about feminism today — with a focus on African feminism at the intersection of current crises and debates. See some extracts below and read the full interview here. The post Interview about African Feminism with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs first appeared on Feminism and Social Criticism by Minna Salami ..read more

I’m currently in Hamburg, Germany chairing “Black Feminism & The Polycrisis”, an essential and exciting program at THE NEW INSTITUTE that I had the great pleasure to put together earlier this year. Read more about the program in THE NEW INSTITUTE’s press release below and follow our upcoming work here. Press Release ANNOUNCEMENT “BLACK FEMINISM AND THE POLYCRISIS” THE NEW INSTITUTE is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering program titled “Black Feminism and the Polycrisis: Configuring a Novel Solution Space Through Intersectional Methodology,” running until June 2024. At a moment whe ..read more

How does male dominance shape desire? This question has always informed feminism. Yet the focus has been on sexual desire. Are there other considerations? And if so, how do they intersect with each other? Last year, I wrote an essay for The Philosopher’s Summer issue, which explores the entangled relationship between desire and patriarchal thought. The essay is now available to read online. The artwork by Samira Abbassy is enchanting and corresponds really well with the text. Read the essay here. The post Keyword: Desire first appeared on Feminism and Social Criticism by Minna Salami ..read more

In order to transform social reality, we must transform what, why, and how we know. I could not be happier to share that in partnership with the global platform for alternative education and transformative experiences, Advaya, and the black feminist advocacy organization Black Women Radicals, I’ve developed a feminist course titled, “Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Course for Everyone”. The conventional and dominant approach to knowledge production that shapes the underlying thought patterns of our societies has made us confused and detached from reality. Subsequently, we are detached fr ..read more

There is no satisfactory way to fully describe what it means to be alive. There are ways to describe what it means to be a person, a human, or a living organism, but besides the corporeal processes that keep the body biologically active, it is more difficult describing what it means to be alive. Is being alive a sense of feeling good, of gathering certain types of experiences, of dancing like no one is watching? Is it to love or to show compassion? Or to feel fear, and act in self-interest?  Is it to get goosebumps reading a beautiful passage in a book, to eat your grandmother’s pastries ..read more

I wrote a two-part essay titled “What has not been noticed before; On the African village and the secrets of modernity” for the transfluid platform, YPPÉ. I also recorded an audio version of the essay. And two brilliant minds, Itzel Esquivel and Ro Averin, discussed the essay on the You Better Say Our Names podcast. Links to all three are available below. https://www.yppe.no/home/minnasalami1 https://www.yppe.no/home/minnasalami2 https://oca.no/programme/you-better-say-our-names-podcast The post What has not been noticed before; On the African village and the secrets of modernity. A two-part ..read more

I have published an article on Project Syndicate titled Closing the Eco Gender Gap. It’s about the perceived relationship between climate change, gender stereotypes, and rationality, topics that I am deeply concerned about. Read it there or below, share the link, and do let me know your thoughts. Closing the Eco Gender Gap Feb 15, 2023 MINNA SALAMI The fight against global warming is seen by some men as women’s work. Countering this sexist narrative, and thus engaging more people in climate activism, requires moving beyond our received understanding of rationality and embracing an i ..read more

Recently launched by the Goethe Institute, The House of African Feminisms (HoAF) is a platform for feminist discourse, resources and enlightenment. The project aims at highlighting the works of various African feminist scholars, artists and thinkers around the world as well as providing a resource on African feminisms.  To mark the launch, the HoAF invited me to write an essay. Of course, I said yes! It’s titled “A Historical Overview of African Feminist Strands”. Read it below or on the HoAF website, it’s a 30-minute read. There is a PDF resource of the essay hereDownload A Historical O ..read more

The best law about abortion is no law. There should be no law regulating what women do or don’t do with their bodies when pregnant. A woman’s body should be hers alone to govern. Yet, throughout history, the state, the church, the monarchy, medical science, you name it, have relentlessly controlled the female reproductive system with their patriarchal laws. Abortion has been especially instrumentalised to this measure. The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court has once again sparked heated debates about what should not be the state’s business – whether, why and how women ..read more