Dr Constance Awinpoka Akurugu

Profile

I am a feminist scholar and activist. I obtained a PhD in Sociology from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.

Responsibilities

• Teaching and Postgraduate Supervision

Research interests

My research interests include postcolonial and African feminism(s) as well as transnational feminist discourses. I also focus on cultural translation of theory, decolonisation and neoliberalism. In relation to empirical research, I am an ethnographer and I explore gendered power relations more broadly. Specifically, I am interested in gender justice, gender-based violence and gendered cultural practices in northern Ghana. My research also includes women’s access to land and productive resources in northern Ghana. My research interests also include gender, climate change and migration in the semi-arid contexts of northern Ghana and building women’s resilience to cope with climate change.

My research also engages with the mystical world of the ethnicities in northern Ghana, particularly, the way in which the belief in the pervasiveness of these supposed supernatural forces of witchcraft, magic power and the power of the ancestors and the agency attributed these other-than-human ontologies complicate social and ritual lives and resistance practices in these settings.
 
I am a feminist advocate and I work with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the extremely male-dominant settings of northern Ghana, contributing towards ending violence against women and girls, transforming pervasive negative socio-cultural norms and practices that oppress women and empowering them. Within northern Ghana, an area that has been historically neglected, I involve in mentoring young women from deprived backgrounds. I also engage CSOs on the prevention of violence against women and mainstreaming gender into various initiatives and programmes such as conflict prevention and violent extremism measures as the northern part of Ghana has become prone to terrorist activities; and building the capacities of male and female traditional leaders who are the gatekeepers of the traditional practices, some of which serve to oppress women and girls, so as to transform normalised violence against women, gendered inheritance practices, and decision-making processes in our local communities. 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

• PhD in Sociology
• MPhil in Development Studies

Student education

I supervise postgraduate research.

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>The school welcomes enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>