African Conceptions of Person as Gendered, Ableist and Anti-queer

This research aims to indicate the sense in which African conceptions of persons can be considered gendered, ableist and anti-queer. In making the case for this I look at the Force Thesis, Shadow Thesis and Ifeanyi Menkiti’s normative conception of person. I argue that each of these theories marginalizes at least one of gender, persons with disabilities and queer persons in their account of personhood. Therefore, I conclude that they should be rejected as plausible theories of personhood in so far as it can be argued that inclusive theories of personhood, namely, theories of person that take into account gender, persons with disabilities and queer persons are preferable.