African Women's Movements

Women burst onto the political scene in Africa after the 1990s claiming more than one third of the parliamentary seats in countries like Angola Mozambique South Africa Tanzania Uganda and Burundi. Women in Rwanda hold the highest percentage of legislative seats in the world. Womens movements lobbied for constitutional reforms and new legislation to expand womens rights. This book examines the convergence of factors behind these dramatic developments including the emergence of autonomous womens movements changes in international and regional norms regarding womens rights and representation the availability of new resources to advance womens status and the end of civil conflict. The book focuses on the cases of Cameroon Uganda and Mozambique situating these countries in the broader African context. The authors provide a fascinating analysis of the way in which women are transforming the political landscape in Africa by bringing to bear their unique perspectives as scholars who have also been parliamentarians transnational activists and leaders in these movements.