Religion as Situated Knowledge for Social Transformation: The Case of the Mashobye Women’s Manyano of Limpopo Province

Religion as a form of situated knowledge has historically influenced a gendered conception and acquisition of knowledge. As one of the dominant voices in society, it has created and maintained social hierarchies by discriminating the equal identity, interest and experiences of women. As a result, emerging ideologies, historical and socio-cultural factors normalized thought patterns of particularly an inferior and dependent perspective about women. In most of the African countries, missionary and colonial teaching undermined women’s indigenous knowledge on food production and experiences as heads of households. Through the Victorian family model, women were removed from participating in agriculture to the domestic sphere where they had to perform duties of housewifery. In case of transforming a situation of poverty, hunger and diseases prevalent in Sub Saharan Africa and rural areas of South Africa in particular, religion constrained processes of positive knowledge construction as women’s roles and activities were mostly limited to private space. The aim of this paper is to explore ways in which the Women’s Manyano organization can be an agent of transformation to communities of women in the rural area for food autonomy and maternal health