Teaching Politics through Fashion History: Africa as a Case Study

Teaching Politics through Fashion History: Africa as a Case-Study

I consider my experience using fashion as a valuable tool to teach issues of politics and gendered power across Africa from the late 1800s to the present. I will discuss how I achieve my central goal for my students: that they understand the critical roles that fashion has played in history, from revolutions to nation-building campaigns to identity politics to globalization. I explain the critical question that has guided me in this endeavor: how have (changing) fashion trends in Africa reflected political concerns and anxieties among women, men, youth, and marginalized individuals? For instance, my students and I analyze the gendered politics of clothing. We examine how women used the hijab to claim power in African Muslim cultures, including Egypt and Libya, during the 1960s and explore Uganda’s 1970s miniskirt bans. While I consider my teaching methodologies, I also address the limitations and challenges, including those created by remote learning. For instance, rather than visit a textile museum as my courses have in the past, we visit digital museums, and I assign students to follow an Africa-based fashion influencer to analyze how they visualize African history in their posts. I find that seeing history through the lens of fashion and dress complicates and diversifies educators’ and students’ perspectives about Africa, challenging preconceived notions about constructions of fashion and dress in African histories, cultures, and societies.

Short session abstract for the meeting app (up to 50 words):

I discuss my experience using fashion to teach about politics and gendered power in modern Africa. For instance, my students and I examine how women used the hijab to claim power in African Muslim cultures, including Egypt and Libya, during the 1960s and explore Uganda’s 1970s miniskirt bans.