Narrative, Identity And Ethics In Postcolonial Kenya

Can a Christian organisation with colonial roots work towards reproductive justice for Kenyan women and resist sexist interpretations of Christianity? How does a women's organisation in Africa navigate controversial ethical dilemmas, at the same time as dealing with the pressures of imperialism in international development?

Based on a case study of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in Kenya, and also referring to research collected on the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians ('the Circle'), this interdisciplinary exploration of ethics, religion and gender offers answers to these questions. It also introduces a theoretical framework drawn from postcolonial feminist critique, narrative identity theory and African theology -'ordinary theological ethics'-and explores its implications as a cross-disciplinary theme in feminist studies of religion and theology. Eleanor Higgs argues that Kenya YWCA's narratives of its Christian history and constitution sustain a link between its ethical perspective and its identity. The ethical insights that emerge from these practices proclaim the relevance of the value of 'fulfilled lives', as prescribed in the New Testament, for Christian women's experiences of reproductive injustice.