Matriarchy and female power in African culture: a historical analysis of the doctrines of Ñsimba Vita and their social impact in Kongo at the turn of the 17th to the 18th century

Abstract

Matriarchy in African communities is an organizational system that strengthens the role of women without the binary and hierarchical gender constructions prevalent in Western culture. This text is part of a chapter of ongoing research for the PhD thesis in Education, Contemporary Contexts and Popular Demands at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. The study aims to explore anti-colonial epistemologies beyond Western gender issues, highlighting matriarchy as a space of women's power and resistance in Africa. Methodologically, we use a qualitative approach to investigate issues and problems in the human sciences, integrating multidisciplinary studies in Education, Sociology and Cultural History to achieve research results. In this context, we revisit the leadership story of Ñsimba Vita, who strategically founded a political and religious movement and stood out as a defender of the Bakongo people through doctrines of liberation and political restoration. Her tireless courage in challenging the political and religious system, despite being a noble woman, enshrines her as a mukongo heroine, intensifying resistance against Western colonial invasion in Central Africa during the transition from the 17th to the 18th century.