Speak up!

Adunni will be heard. She is the 14-year-old protagonist of the bestselling novel The Girl with the Louding Voice by Nigerian author Abi Dare. It is an Amazon bestseller and, this week, it is being serialised on BBC radio. Its message of education for all and the empowerment of women grapples with some of the most important issues of our times.

The novel takes us to Nigeria and Adunni's journey from her small village to the big city, as she pursues her mother's advice: "Your schooling is your voice, child. It will be speaking for you even if you didn't open your mouth to talk."

But there are massive obstacles in her way. Her mother has died, her father has sold her into a forcedMade to do something. marriageSome studies suggest that couples who meet online are slightly less likely to divorce. Others suggest the opposite. and, when she escapes to the city, she endures domestic slaveryWhen people are owned by others, and often forced to work without pay.  as a housemaid for a rich Lagos family.

Although the novel is a work of fiction, it is based on harsh reality. Around the world, 130 million girls are currently not in education and, every day, 41,000 women under the age of 18 are forced into marriage.

The two problems are linked. Over 70% of Nigerian women without education will marry before 18. And, once married, they are dependent on their husbands and unable to go to school or college.

Abi Dare says the message her novel conveys is summed up by Nelson Mandela's words: "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world." But this education is not accessible to everyone and, to claim her right to it, she must find her "louding voiceAppropriately for a story about individual expression, "louding" is a word of Adunni's own creation." and challenge the patriarchal societyLiterally, patriarchy means a society ruled by the fathers, the heads of households, who own all property and make all decisions. However, the term is now used more broadly to describe any society where men have more power than women. that values men more than women.

This struggle to control her own destiny is not only about gender equality. At its heart is individualismThe political philosophy that values the rights of the individual over society. It is a key idea in liberal democracies and modern capitalism., the idea that everyone should be allowed to realise their full potential and not be held back by society's rules and norms.

Individualism is a relatively recent idea. Most societies throughout history have valued social orderMedieval feudal society, for example, was ordered according to the Chain of Being. All authority came from God, through the king and the nobility, down to the ordinary peasant. If you tried to improve your status, you were accused of challenging God's natural order. and conformity over the rights of the individual. Knowing your place, and sticking to it, has always been regarded as fundamental.

In North America and Western Europe, the individual appears to be more important than society. But even here, the social pressure to conform and follow the crowd keeps individualism in check. Even if the penalties are much lower, it can take courage and confidence to speak up, stand out, and dare to be different.

But new research suggests individualism is much older than we thought, and plays an important role in social interaction. Scientists believe we evolved our uniquely expressive faces to communicate our individuality, to tell other members of our tribeA group of people, often several families, who share a language, culture and history.  that "this is me, not someone else".

And, paradoxically, it is precisely this emphasis on individuality that allows us to live in complex social groups.

So, is finding your voice the key to a better society?

No. Society needs harmony and conformity. Individualism harms communities by selfishly focusing on the desires of the individual, instead of celebrating our interdependence. And if we don't value these relationships, they may not be there when we need them most.

Yes. Society is made by individuals. The rich and powerful may tell you that the social order is natural and fixed, but we know that the rules of a society can be rewritten. To change the world for the better, we need everyone to find their voice and be heard. That alone can create a society where no one is mistreated, silenced, or ignored.