Decolonising social norms change: from ‘grandmother-exclusionary bias’ to ‘grandmother-inclusive’ approaches

Abstract

This paper contributes to decolonising global health and development by exposing how coloniality in knowledge production informs dominant approaches to shifting social norms underpinning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage. Major organisations in this field demonstrate systemic grandmother-exclusionary bias, namely sidelining grandmothers as change agents compared to adolescent girls, women of reproductive age, men and boys, and religious leaders. Grandmother-exclusionary bias stems from two assumptions: grandmothers do not influence FGM/C or child marriage; grandmothers only exert harmful influence and cannot change their views. These assumptions reflect Eurocentric constructions of modernity, and limited understanding of cultural contexts where seniority confers authority on female elders in relation to sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Grandmother-exclusionary bias goes against evidence that grandmothers wield authority over these practices; insights from meta-evaluations and systems/socioecological approaches that social norms change requires engaging people who wield authority over those norms; and proof that grandmothers can lead change if engaged respectfully. Instead, I present the ‘grandmother-inclusive’ Girls Holistic Development programme in Senegal, developed by the non-governmental organisation The Grandmother Project, as a decolonial option. It uses cultural renewal and participatory intergenerational dialogue to support grandmothers in shifting SRH-related norms and healing the damage Western modernity has inflicted on their communities.

Keywords:

• FGM
• child marriage
• grandmothers
• elders
• decolonialisation
• sexual and reproductive health

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr Tanja Bastia, Dr Penny Vera-Sanso, Dr Julie Vullnetari, Dr Elisabeth Schroeder-Butterfill, Dr Carmen Leon-Himmelstine and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference in June 2021.

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I have worked voluntarily (2011) and as a consultant (2015, 2017) for The Grandmother Project – Change Through Culture, and for the Institute of Reproductive Health at Georgetown University on their realist evaluation of The Grandmother Project’s ‘Girls Holistic Development’ programme (2017). However, I have not received any funding from these organisations to write this paper, and the arguments and conclusions are entirely my own.

Additional information

Funding

The writing of this paper was made possible thanks to a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Fonds National de Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), grant number 1228619F; and a Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), grant number 12-86023-N.

Notes on contributors

Anneke Newman

Anneke Newman is an anthropologist of development. Her work focuses on critiquing colonialist biases in development theory, policy and practice, and proposing decolonial alternatives based on the worldviews, values and struggles of people on the receiving end of colonialist hierarchies. Her areas of interest are policies relating to health, gender, education, migration and the nexus between religion and development. Her geographic expertise is in Islamic West Africa.