Sarojini Nadar

University of the Western Cape, Desmond Tutu Centre for the Study of Religion and Social Justice, Faculty Member

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Sarojini Nadar holds the Desmond Tutu (SARChI) Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape. The Chair promotes advanced transdisciplinary research which examines and interrogates the power of faith, religion and cultural traditions to advance or limit the quest for creating and sustaining justice.
Nadar studied English and African literature at the University of Cape Town, later shifting her interest to feminist biblical literature and completing a PhD at the University of Natal in the subject in 2003.
She is a transdisciplinary researcher and has researched and published in the areas of Black feminist theory, sexuality, masculinities, HIV, and her most important work has been in the field of gender-based violence – physical, sexual and epistemic.
Prior to her appointment at UWC, she headed up the Gender and Religion program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, for over a decade.
In addition to being awarded a Tier 1 Research Chair by the South African National Research Foundation in 2019, Nadar has also received several significant awards and recognition for teaching, research, and community engagement.

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Papers by Sarojini Nadar

Subverting gender and ethnic assumptions in biblical narrative: exploring the narrative voice of Ruth

Journal of constructive theology, 2000

Epistemologically Privileging Anger: Living with Cracked Containers in Feminist Scholarship

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Apr 1, 2022

Exploring Agency, Absence, and Approach in the Book, Kenyan, Christian, Queer

Religious Studies Review, Sep 1, 2020

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Hermeneutics of Transformation?' a Critical Exploration of the Model of Social Engagement Between Biblical Scholars and Faith Communities

Scriptura : international journal of bible, religion and theology in southern Africa, Jun 1, 2018

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Christianity, consumerism and the market

SCM Press eBooks, 2014

“Stories are data with soul” 1

Routledge eBooks, May 16, 2019

Beyond the “Ordinary Reader” and the “Invisible Intellectual”

Society of Biblical Literature eBooks, Sep 7, 2017

Drawing on eight years of experience gathered at contextual bible studies facilitated by the auth... more Drawing on eight years of experience gathered at contextual bible studies facilitated by the author, this article intends to push the boundaries of the understanding of the role of the "ordinary" reader and the intellectual in the process of contextual bible study (a method of bible study that attempts to work at the interface between faith communities and the academy around issues of social transformation). It argues that if transformation is the end-goal of contextual bible studies then the critical resources which the intellectual brings to the process will have to be far more emphasised and nuanced than it has been in the past; that the effects of globalisation, particularly as reflected in the ubiquitous term "biblical values" which comes up often in contextual bible studies will have to be addressed; and the identity and role of the intellectual will have to be more fully interrogated than it has been in the past. The article argues that neither an understanding that promotes "community wisdom" or "hidden transcripts" nor an understanding of the "all-powerful" intellectual is helpful in understanding the dynamics of contextual bible study. This discussion will be facilitated by elucidating some of the characteristic features of CBS, what I have termed the five C's of CBS-Community, Context, Criticality, Concientisation and Change.

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“Stories are data with Soul” – lessons from black feminist epistemology

Agenda (Durban), Jan 2, 2014

abstract When asked to give the keynote address at the Annual Women in Research Lecture at the Un... more abstract When asked to give the keynote address at the Annual Women in Research Lecture at the University of South Africa the author decided to change the topic from ‘Women in Research’ to ‘Feminist Research’. Here she submits that researchers have much to learn from African feminist epistemology and research values, and draws attention to one particular defining feature of African feminist epistemology, namely ‘narrative knowing’. She argues for the power of story as integral to qualitative research practice and at the very least as complementary to quantitative research practice. The benefits of STORY for researchers are that stories encourage and encompass: Suspicion of master narratives of knowledge; Tools of knowledge gathering and dissemination; Objection to objectivity; Reflexivity of the positioning of researchers; and Yearning for and working for transformation and change. Drawing on the works of Black feminist scholars like Patricia Hill Collins and Obioma Nnaemeka, she discusses each of these benefits of narrative knowing for research and teaching in turn, by extracting and explicating the stories she has collected over the years as a researcher and a teacher. These stories provide a critique to conventional academic ways of knowing, particularly its claim to be science. This article concludes, in agreement with Brene Brown, that indeed ‘stories are just data with soul’.

Introduction: “Queering the Curriculum”: Pedagogical Explorations of Gender and Sexuality in Religion and Theological Studies

This roundtable explores the intersections of queer pedagogy and the teaching of religion—in and ... more This roundtable explores the intersections of queer pedagogy and the teaching of religion—in and partly beyond the fields of religious studies and theology—in higher education settings. The various contributions present reflections based on innovative teaching and transformative curriculum practices in religion courses and programs, specifically in South Africa and the United Kingdom but—we believe—with wider relevance.

What about the margins? Bibolical scholarship fifteen years after Voices from the Margin

Scriptura : international journal of bible, religion and theology in southern Africa, 2007

This review article engages some of the critical issues raised in the revised and expanded editio... more This review article engages some of the critical issues raised in the revised and expanded edition of RS Sugirtharajah's, Voices from the Margin : Interpreting the Bible in the Third World 15 years after its first publication. The brief review article argues among other things, that fundamentalism remains the biggest challenge to genuinely critical biblical scholarship; that even though men still dominate the enterprise of biblical studies women such as those within the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians are still making their voices heard; that if we are going to interpret from the margins, that we are going to have to take those that inhabit the margins seriously and not simply interpret from the margins as a fashion statement; and that conscientisation and activism must be the cornerstone of the discipline of marginal hermeneutics if we are to make a meaningful contribution to the transformation of not just the academy but the world as well.

Texts of terror": the conspiracy of rape in the Bible, Church, and society: the case of Esther 2:1-18

What's in a name?: forging a theoretical framework for African women's theologies

Journal of constructive theology, 2006

Reading Ruth : towards a postmodernist, literary and womanist analysis

This dissertation examines the book of Ruth from a postmodemist, literary and womanist perspectiv... more This dissertation examines the book of Ruth from a postmodemist, literary and womanist perspective. The main methodology is postmodemist literary criticism, but it employs intertextual and autobiographical approaches as well. Chapter 1 is an exploration of the plot of Ruth and reveals that in order for the endgoal ofthe plot to be achieved "emptiness has to return to fullness." It is shown that Ruth's action (her decision to return with Naomi) is the catalyst that begins the process that ultimately leads to the denouement of the plot. The fact that it is the two women, Ruth and Naomi, who drive the plot forward, indicates that the Book of Ruth is a woman's story. Chapter 2 demonstrates that the significance of narrative time for any literary analysis lies in the fact that the amount of time allowed for the retelling of the events rarely corresponds to the time it took for the events to happen. Since Ruth is a short story, the choice of what to tell, what to omit as well as how long ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I am deeply grateful to the following people, without whom the writing of this dissertation would not have been possible: God, who as always heard and answered all my prayers, even when I did not believe that the completion of this dissertation would be possible. My supervisor, Chuck Wanamaker, for his untiring efforts in correcting and recorrecting my work in progress and his willingness to support and advise at any time-day or night. My other supervisor, and dear friend Tzi1i Reisenberger, who so generously offered me the use of both her office and her home during the writing of this dissertation. I'm also grateful for all the lengthy conversations from which many of the ideas for this dissertation were born. My family, my friends and community for all their support and care. The CSD (Centre for Science Development) and The Church of Canada for trusting in my ability and awarding me financial assistance towards the completion of this work, And finally, I dedicate this work to the man in my life and our little boy, who were both constant sources of support and inspiration.

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Beyond a “Political Priest”: Exploring Desmond Tutu as a “Freedom-Fighter Mystic”

Black Theology, Nov 10, 2021

The purpose of this essay is to critically review the remarkably unique account of Desmond Tutu's... more The purpose of this essay is to critically review the remarkably unique account of Desmond Tutu's life presented by Michael Battle in his book "Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa's Confessor." The central contention of this essay is that Michael Battle shifts the paradigm of biographical research about Desmond Tutu beyond the popular trope of "political priest" to that of "freedom fighter-mystic." Through a careful filtering of Tutu's life via the three stages of mysticismpurgation, illumination and union, Battle makes a convincing case that Tutu's political actions for justice were not in spite of his deep spirituality, but because of it. This ethnographic spiritual biography troubles the binaries between the sacred and the secular, between spiritual contemplation and social action, and between God's justice and social justice, thereby inviting readers to the warm embrace of a more authentic spirituality.

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Paradigm shifts in mission: From an ethic of domination to an ethic of justice and love: The case of 1 Tim 2:8-15

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, Aug 1, 2005

The article explores the passage 1 Tim 2:8-15 from a womanist point of view. Its starting point i... more The article explores the passage 1 Tim 2:8-15 from a womanist point of view. Its starting point is that the mission of the church should not dominate or alienate but spread love and justice. If the church wishes to do this, it should embody love and justice in its own structures and relationships. If a scriptural passage is oppressive it does not have authority; for that reason 1 Tim 2:8-15 should not be obeyed, but it should be taken seriously.

Undoing ‘Protective Scientism’ in a Gender, Religion and Health Masters Curriculum

Constructing knowledge: curriculum studies in action, 2016

The Gender, Religion and Health (GRH) Masters Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)... more The Gender, Religion and Health (GRH) Masters Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) sought to encourage such problem-solving research (focusing on the issue of sexual and reproductive health) through merging three disciplinary areas of study into one programme: gender studies, religious studies and health (sexual and reproductive health). In the first two years of the programme, the curriculum was designed in a multi-disciplinary form, rather than an interdisciplinary one owing to pragmatic and operational reasons, given that this was a pilot programme that was launched in 2013.

Toward Gender Justice

The Ecumenical Review

This article reflects on our experiences of facilitating the Bible studies for the Just Community... more This article reflects on our experiences of facilitating the Bible studies for the Just Community of Women and Men pre‐assembly gathering to the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in August–September 2022. Working with the text of Acts 8:26‐40, commonly known as the baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch, the article reflects critically on our own facilitation as well as participant feedback from the workshop. It begins with a description of how the Bible studies were planned and developed, based on an adaptation of the contextual Bible study method. Thereafter, it reflects on how participants brought three aspects of the eunuch's identity – gender, race, and religion – to bear on the multiple and intersecting challenges faith communities experience in their various local contexts. The participants’ insights and the facilitation of the Bible study revealed the ongoing importance of embodied and lived experiences in the process of biblical interpretation. This article contrib...

Of Theological Burglaries and Epistemic Violence

The Ecumenical Review

The purpose of this article is to explore how the historical roots of Black and other liberation ... more The purpose of this article is to explore how the historical roots of Black and other liberation theologies are undermined through the usurping of the vocabulary of decolonial language. Through a critical discourse analysis of a selected publication, we demonstrate how the foregrounding of perspectives, the trivializing of positionality and power, and the privileges accrued by proximity result in the plunder and proprietorship of decolonial archives and Black theological history. This, we argue, is a form of epistemic violence, a supreme irony when laying claim to a decolonial framing within scholarship. Adapting the method of “epistemic violence tracking,” as theorized by philosopher Kristie Dotson, we track the ways in which epistemic violence occurs through various discourses even within scholarship claiming to be decolonial. By bringing the discursive constructs of perspective, positionality, and proximity to bear on the research that is passed off as decolonial, we demonstrate ...

Epistemologically Privileging Anger: Living with Cracked Containers in Feminist Scholarship

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

Transdisciplinary, transgressive and transformative: Pedagogical reflections on sexual ethics, religion, and gender

Critical African studies, Dec 1, 2022

Over the last four years, student movements in South Africa have demanded the ‘fall’ of normative... more Over the last four years, student movements in South Africa have demanded the ‘fall’ of normative systems of power in government and higher education. These ‘fallist’ movements have called for decolonized curricula and pedagogies. However, there is debate surrounding what decolonial means and what it looks like. Drawing on four years of experience teaching gender and sexual ethics at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) we offer some tentative reflections on what constitutes a decolonial and socially just pedagogy. Facilitated through critical, queer, liberatory and feminist theories, our reflections comprise our teaching experience and the curriculum reform process of a third-year undergraduate module. In this module we explored the ways in which religious and cultural discourses form and transform understandings and experiences of gender and sexuality. This paper draws on a range of data which includes personal reflections, the module outline, course evaluations which were submitted anonymously via an electronic survey, classroom engagement and student essays. We reflect on the ways in which we made use of a transdisciplinary co-teaching method which drew on four disciplines, Ethics, Gender Studies, Sociology of Religion, and Biblical Studies. We also engage with how the classroom became transgressive as we destabilised the taken-for-granted separation between the academic and the popular. Last, by facilitating student-centred, participatory approaches to learning we argue that the classroom became a transformative space.