Patricia McFadden (born 1952) is a radical African feminist, sociologist, writer, educator, and publisher from

eSwatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

.Spelman College: Cosby Chairs
She is also an activist and scholar who worked in the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

for more than 20 years. McFadden has worked in the African and global women’s movements as well. As a writer, she has been the target of political persecution. She has worked as editor of the ''Southern African Feminist Review'' and ''African Feminist Perspectives''. She currently teaches, and advocates internationally for women's issues. McFadden has served as a professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She also works as a "feminist consultant", supporting women in creating institutionally sustainable feminist spaces within Southern Africa.

Personal life

She attended the University of Botswana and Swaziland studying politics and administration, with economics and sociology as minors. She then went to the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

for a master's degree in sociology. She received her PhD from

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1987.

Career

She worked as a program officer in the Southern African Regional Institute for Policy Studies (SARIPS) in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, from 1993 to 2005. She worked as editor of the ''Southern African Feminist Review'' from 1995 to 2000. She served as international dean at the International Women’s University (IFU) from 1998 to 2000 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. She also taught in the Masters in Social Policy (MPS) program offered by SARIPS for the past seven years. She was an adjunct professor at

Study Abroad program in Zimbabwe and then later at the parent location in Syracuse New York as a faculty member in the Department of African American Studies.

Work

As a writer, McFadden’s main areas of intellectual inquiry are: sexuality, reproductive and sexual health, and identity, violation and citizenship for African women. She has presented numerous papers at universities, conferences and seminars internationally in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Brazil, China, Germany, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and others.

Publications

Essays

*"Becoming Postcolonial: African Women Changing the Meaning of Citizenship" - 2005. *"Challenging HIV and AIDS: Resistance and Advocacy in the Lives of Black Women in Southern Africa" *"War Through a Feminist Lens" *"Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Positioning Feminism in the ‘Africa Debate,’ and ‘Patriarchy'" *"Sexuality and Globalization"

Books

*"Gender in Southern Africa: A Gendered Perspective" (Sapes Books)- 1998 *"Reflections on Gender Issues in Africa" (Sapes Books) - 1999 *"Reconceptualizing the Family in a Changing Southern African Environment" with Sara C. Mvududu (Africa Institute of South Africa), 2001.

Awards

* Hellman/Hammett Human Rights Award (

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

)- 1999 * Keynote speaker at AFEMS 2019, at

University of the Witswatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFadden, Patricia Living people University of Botswana and Swaziland alumni University of Dar es Salaam alumni Alumni of the University of Warwick Cornell University faculty Feminist philosophers Syracuse University faculty Spelman College faculty Smith College faculty Swazi activists Swazi women activists Swazi feminists Swazi human rights activists Swazi women writers 1952 births Postmodern feminists Black studies scholars Women sociologists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers