Document Type

Theses, Ph.D

Abstract

For decades, discourse has been constructed for and about Nigerian women, rather than in dialogue with them, despite their rich worldview rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems. Empirical studies have consistently focused on Europe and America as sources of knowledge production, while treating the Global South as the object of knowledge. As a result, little is known about how work and organising/organisation are done, particularly in the informal economy. This study, Gendered Organising: Decolonial Feminist Epistemologies from marginalised women, introduced us to the lived experiences of women textile traders in Southwest Nigeria. It explores how these women's gendered organising practices contribute to an alternative epistemology and challenge dominant colonial narratives, especially within Organisational Studies (OS).

I adopt a decolonial feminist theoretical perspective, building on other anti-colonial movements to challenge the ontology of modernity and the coloniality of knowledge in organisational studies. This ethnographic study uses a bricolage research design, integrating my theoretical framework into my ethnographic approach to create space for marginalised Nigerian women textile traders to tell their stories and share their perspectives on gender, identity, and work within their cultural, social, and historical contexts. This critical lens complicates the relationship between the researcher and the researched, making reflexivity essential to the ethnographic process.

A total of 40 women were recruited and interviewed through a snowball approach, and observed shops/stalls and umbrella stands over three months (June-September, 2023). Informal conversations and field notes, alongside interviews and observations, served as essential tools for eliciting information. Transcribed interviews and field notes were processed using qualitative software, and thematic analysis was conducted; then, ethnographic summaries and direct quotations were used to present the data. The study finds that womanhood is not universal but a fluid, interconnected identity shaped by familial and cultural beliefs and socioeconomic practices. Furthermore, emerging narratives complicate the linear understanding of work and organisation by illustrating the constant need to negotiate and navigate the gendered marketplace through creative approaches grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems. In summary, the study demonstrates marginalised women’s agency and ability to produce knowledge valuable to organisational studies. It demonstrates how they are reclaiming their sense of identity and agency and challenging dominant colonial epistemologies.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/WSDQ-6Z03

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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