The Nexus of Culture and Christianity: Complexity of Masculinity in Africa

Description

The Nexus of Culture and Christianity: Complexity of Masculinity in Africa is a book that promotes the understanding of manhood in Africa from a Christian biblical perspective. It explores the barriers that boys experience right from conception to old age and how such barriers inform manhood. The book reflects on the misconceptions that come with implementation of well-meaning gender responsive programs in education, economic, social and political spheres, which are likely to have negative implications for men while trying to bridge the gender gaps that have disadvantaged women over time. As a response, suggestions are made on how such programs could be made friendly to benefit women without excluding or disadvantaging men. The book recognizes that there have been cases of men and women failing to understand one another in the course of their everyday communication. Consequently, it walks men through strategies to effective communication and demonstrates how they could use their words to build their families, given the power that such words carry. Furthermore, utilization and sharing of scarce resources is examined as a potential aspect in men’s life. Accordingly, the book illustrates how African men subscribing to the Christian faith could find a balance in the allocation of resources available to them including time in a manner to be useful to the church ministry and community while not disadvantaging their families. The book acknowledges the role of men as mediators in conflict, and also prepares them for the challenges related to old age.

Dr. Rubai Mandela is the Co-Chairperson of Women Educational Researchers of Kenya (WERK) and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Educational Foundations, Kenyatta University. She has over 16 years of experience in teaching courses in Sociology of Education and Health Education. Dr. Mandela is an established consultant in education and social science. Her research interests are in gender and education, religion and education, education in marginalized communities including refugee settings as well as HIV/AIDS and sexuality education. She has published widely and presented numerous papers in both local and international conferences.

Dr. Jafred Muyaka is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations at University of Eldoret where he teaches courses in research, comparative and international education and has research interests in higher education, gender, governance and technology. He is an established consultant on education issues with expertise in evaluation that spans for over 7 years. He is a member of Women Educational Researchers of Kenya (WERK), African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE), and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).