Video Lecture: Women Missionaries and Colonial Silences in Kenya’s Female “Circumcision” Controversy, 1906-30 – David Anderson


David Anderson, Project A02 “Past Futures” gave a presentation as part of the Faculty Lecture Series on 26 November 2022.

Find the full video lecture here.

Abstract


For the people of Kenya, recent global debates on the emotional and medical harm caused by female genital mutilation (FGM), allied to arguments about the human rights of the women subjected to such acts, have a significant historical resonance. In the 1920s, Christian missionaries in central Kenya mounted a concerted campaign to prohibit ‘female circumcision’ among their flourishing African congregations. This provoked a backlash, with thousands of Kikuyu Christians deserting the missions to found their own independent churches and schools in the early 1930s. These events, commonly referred to as the ‘female circumcision controversy’, mark a turning point in Kenya’s colonial history. Taking as its starting-point the murder in 1930 of a female missionary with the African Inland Mission, the article explores the actions and attitudes of white women missionaries, revealing a subtle and complex picture of missionary views of African society and the process of Christian conversion, arguing that, as the circumcision crisis developed during 1929, these women stood at the centre of the gathering storm, their experience emblematic of the emotional, cultural and political challenges in the circumcision debate. This account adds an important new dimension to our understanding of gender in Kenya’s circumcision debate, but it also reveals why colonial silence has surrounded the event at the very centre of the crisis: the murder of Hulda Stumpf.

Reference

Anderson, D., 2018. Women Missionaries and Colonial Silences in Kenya’s Female ‘Circumcision’ Controversy, 1906–1930, The English Historical Review, Volume 133, Issue 565, December 2018, Pages 1512–1545, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cey325

More to explore

Cover Image with the Logo of Future Rural Africa and the DKG 2023

The Promises and Perils of Infrastructure – Envisioning Desirable Futures in the Global South: Future Rural Africa at DKG ’23

The German Geography Association “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geographie (DGfG)” and the Institutes of Physical Geography and Institute of Human Geography at Frankfurt University are conducting
Read More »
CRC Researcher Evelyne Owino during a presentation in June of 2023

CRC-TRR 228 Future Rural Africa Researcher Evelyne Owino at the Conference on Natural Resource Management and Conflict in Africa

TUE I June 27, 2023 I Copenhagen, Denmark Evelyne Owino, researcher from Project B03 “Violent Futures” gave a presentation at the Conference on Natural Resource
Read More »
Picture of a full auditorium with a group of panelists sitting on a stage. The picture depicts the ECAS 2023 opening roundtable

Future Rural Africa Researcher Fenny Ndapewa Nakanyete Panelist at ECAS 2023 Opening Roundtable: Is there a Future for African Studies In Europe?

CRC-TRR 228 Future Rural Africa researcher Fenny Ndapewa Nakanyete (Project C01 Future in Chains; middle) was part of the panel of the opening day roundtable
Read More »
poster of david anderson presentaiton on the contest for caprivi

Online Lecture: The Contest for Caprivi: Tshekedi Khama & Bechuanaland’s Bid for Control – David Anderson

Wed | June 21, 2023 | 17:30 CEST Join us for 9th episode of Ko Isong public lecture organised by The Botswana Society: Click here
Read More »
The Logo of ECAS Conference 2023

CRC-TRR Future Rural Africa at ECAS 2023

As ECAS 2023 is set to begin in Cologne on May 31, we are not only thrilled to announce that the CRC Future Rural Africa
Read More »
Scroll to Top