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“Exploring the Spiritual Puzzle of Silence”: Religion and the Construction of Gender Inequality in Tanzania
Author: Prof. Alexander Makulilo | Publication Date: 2025-12-31 08:41:57
Abstract
This article explores how religion shapes gender inequality in Tanzanian society. Although scholarship on women and religion has expanded globally, African feminist engagement remains limited, partly due to the sensitive nature of critiquing religion in deeply religious societies. Drawing on ten years of classroom observations at the University of Dar es Salaam, I identify a persistent reluctance among students to question religion’s influence on gender inequality, calling this the “spiritual puzzle of silence.” Despite Tanzania’s legal and policy commitments to gender equality, patriarchal norms persist within religious and cultural life, shaping attitudes in both private and public spheres. The article highlights factors reinforcing silence such as the sanctity of religious knowledge, patriarchal religious institutions, fear of conflict, the divide between scientific and divine knowledge, and parental authority over religious identity. These factors normalize silence around religion’s role in gendered socialization. While Tanzanian feminist movements have advanced socioeconomic and political rights, they largely avoid religion due to its sensitivity. The article calls for more nuanced, critical engagement and open dialogue to address how religion perpetuates gender inequality in Tanzania.
Keywords
Gender inequality, religion, gender construction, women and religion, TanzaniaAuthor Biography
Professor Alexander Makulilo is a distinguished scholar in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science (Summa Cum Laude) from Leipzig University in Germany, as well as an M.A. and B.A. in Political Science from the University of Dar es Salaam. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the Open University of Tanzania and a Diploma in the Management of Higher Education from the Galilee International Management Institute in Israel. Professor Makulilo currently holds the distinguished title of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Professor in Pan- African Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. He serves as an Associate Research Fellow at both the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute in Freiburg, Germany, and the French Institute for Research in Africa in Kenya. He is also affiliated with the Africa Centre for Transregional Research at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Professor Makulilo is an active member of several professional associations, including the International Political Science Association (IPSA), the American Political Science Association (APSA), the Society of African Journal Editors (SAJE), and the International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS). His research interests encompass governance, peace and security, democracy, and gender, and he has published extensively in these areas. Since 2019, Professor Makulilo has represented the United Republic of Tanzania as a member of the Constitutional Experts Team tasked with drafting the constitution for the East African Political Confederation. For more than a decade, he has served as Editor-in-Chief of “The African Review: A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs” (Brill). He is currently co-editing “The Oxford Handbook of Tanzanian Politics,” scheduled for publication by Oxford University Press in 2027.