Women's Activism in Africa

Struggles for Rights and Representation

Balghis Badri, Aili Mari Tripp, Balghis Badri, Aili Mari Tripp

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781783609093
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781783609109
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

Throughout Africa, growing numbers of women are coming together and making their voices heard, mobilising around causes ranging from democracy and land rights to campaigns against domestic violence. In Tanzania and Tunisia, women have made major gains in their struggle for equal political rights, and in Sierra Leone and Liberia women have been at the forefront of efforts to promote peace and reconciliation. While some of these movements have been influenced by international feminism and external donors, increasingly it is African women who are shaping the global struggle for women's rights.

Bringing together African authors who themselves are part of the activist groups, this collection represents the only comprehensive and up-to-date overview of women's movements in contemporary Africa. Drawing on case studies and fresh empirical material from across the continent, the authors challenge the prevailing assumption that notions of women's rights have trickled down from the global north to the south, showing instead that these movements have been shaped by above all the unique experiences and concerns of the local women involved.

Table of contents

• Front cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1. African influences on global women’s rights: an overview
• 2. The evolution of the women’s movement in Sierra Leone
• 3. Market women’s associations in Ghana
• 4. Tunisian women’s literature of denunciation
• 5. The Moroccan feminist movement (1946–2014)
• 6. Women’s rights and the women’s movement in Sudan (1952–2014)
• 7. The women’s movement in Tanzania
• 8. The women’s movement in Kenya
• 9. Women organising for liberation in South Africa
• 10. African women activists: contributions and challenges ahead
• About the editors and contributors
• Index
• Back cover