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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Regional networking as transnational feminism: African experiences
Author:Tripp, Aili MariISNI
Year:2005
Periodical:Feminist Africa
Issue:4
Pages:46-63
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:feminism
women's organizations
parliamentary representation
empowerment
Equality and Liberation
organizations
Historical/Biographical
External link:https://feministafrica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/fa_4_feature_article_3.pdf
Abstract:Much of the new transnational mobilization around women's issues in the early 21st century appears to be happening in the global South in regional forums. This article therefore treats Africa-wide networks and subregions (East, West, and Southern Africa) as a subset of transnational networking. The article explores key mechanisms through which regional influences spread and are diffused. It does so by focusing on an arena in which these regional linkages and influences have been most visible: in encouraging women to claim political leadership positions. These mechanisms include direct diffusion between NGOs and NGO coalitions from one country to the next; the promotion of gender balance within subregional organizations; subregional pressures for improved gender representation in government and parliament; pressures for gender balance at the pan-African level; subregional advocacy networks for female representation; pressures from national networks on subregional organizations; and Africa-wide advocacy and networking to promote women's leadership. The article shows how important these continental and subregional influences are for domestic politics, serving as a critical conduit for changing international norms. In this sense, they are perhaps more important than global transnational influences as a vehicle for changing the status of women. Prior to the emergence of these continental and subregional alliances in the 1990s, African leaders frequently disparaged women's activism as a product of corrupting Western feminist influences. Today, most of the impetus for change comes from within Africa and from regional-level networks. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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