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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Democratization and State Feminism: Gender Politics in Africa and Latin America |
Authors: | Okeke-Ihejirika, Philomina E. Franceschet, Susan |
Year: | 2002 |
Periodical: | Development and Change |
Volume: | 33 |
Issue: | 3 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 439-466 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria South Africa |
Subjects: | democracy feminism Women's Issues Politics and Government Law, Human Rights and Violence Equality and Liberation Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights |
External link: | https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00262 |
Abstract: | The authors address the link between State feminism and democratization in the global South. They use the cases of Chile and Nigeria - State feminism has emerged in Chile but not in Nigeria - to show some of the factors that encourage women to exploit the opportunities presented by transitions to democracy, and link the outcome of State feminism to the strategies available to women during democratization. The authors propose that the strategic options available to women are shaped by at least three factors: the existence of a unified women's movement capable of making political demands; existing patterns of gender relations, which influence women's access to arenas of political influence and power; and the content of existing gender ideologies, and whether women can deploy them to further their own interests. State feminism emerged in Chile out of the demands of a broad-based women's movement in a context of democratic transition that provided feminists with access to political institutions. In Nigeria, attempts at creating State feminism have consistently failed due to a political transition from military to civilian rule that has not provided feminists with access to political arenas of influence, and the absence of a powerful women's movement. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |