Gender, Gays and Gain: The Sexualised Politics of Donor Aid in Malawi

Emmie Chanika (), John L. Lwanda () and Adamson S. Muula ()

Africa Spectrum, 2013, vol. 48, issue 1, 89-105

Abstract: Many Malawian politicians have exploited religious and cultural discourses, encouraging the discourse of the “God-fearing Malawi nation” while also acknowledging the country as a secular state. This discourse – which most recently underwent further development in the early 1980s when Christians and Muslims, funded by donor money, accelerated their evangelical drives in the context of a one-party Malawi – resonates with a patriarchal, conservative political dispensation. This paper traces the evolution of the “God-fearing nation” discourse in Malawian politics. It posits that the government used the “gay rights issue” as a strategy to disorient human rights activists and donors. Gay rights were de-linked from other civil rights, forcing a binary approach toward gay rights, which were seen by government supporters as “anti-Christian”, “anti-Malawian” concepts. The debate with donors enabled the government to claim “sovereign autonomy” and galvanise the population into an anti-aid mentality (better no aid than aid that supports homosexuality).

Keywords: Malawi; domestic policy; foreign and development aid; homosexuals/homosexuality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-01
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