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Politics: Africa Final Exam Summary Notes
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This is a complete summary of Week 6-12. Ideal if you haven't done the readings or need refreshing.
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Politics: Africa Final Exam Study NotesTable of contents
Week Six Notes: Gender & Youth 2
Reading Notes 2
Reading One: Gender and Governance 2
Reading Two: African Youth Integration in Politics 7
Lecture Six Notes: Gender & Youth 11
Week Seven Notes: Religion, Politics, and Society 16
Reading Notes 16
Reading One: Religion 16
Reading Two: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of the African Christian Landscape 27
Lecture Seven Notes: Religion 32
Week Eight Notes: Ethnicity 35
Reading Notes 35
Reading One: Politics of Identity and the Crisis of Nation-Building in Africa 35
Reading Two: Ethnic Identity and Conflicts in Africa 40
Lecture Eight Notes: Understanding Ethnicity and identity in a Global context 46
Week Nine Notes: Political Parties and Electoral Systems 50
Reading Notes 50
Reading One: Political Parties and Democracy in Africa 50
Reading Two: Elections: The Power of Elections in Multi-party Africa 56
Lecture Nine Notes: Political Parties and Electoral Systems 64
Week Ten Notes: Infrapolitics & Protest 69
Reading Notes 69
Reading One: The Everyday Resistance of Rwandan Peasants… 69
Optional reading 1: Why Infrapolitics Matters 77
Optional reading 2: Infrapolitics and Mobilizations: A response by James C. Scott 79
Lecture Ten Notes: Infrapolitics & Protest 80
Week Eleven Notes: African Media and Political Power 86
Reading Notes 86
Reading One: Media and Politics in Africa 86
Lecture Eleven Notes: African Media and Political Power 92
Week Twelve Notes: Dreams of Unity 97
Reading Notes 97
Reading One: From OAU to AU: Rethinking Supranational Governance in Africa 97
Reading Two: Pan-Africanism is Africa’s Third Way… 105
Lecture Twelve Notes: Dreams of Unity 112
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Week Six Notes: Gender & Youth
________________________________________
Reading Notes
Reading One: Gender and Governance
SOURCE: Agbalajobi, “Gender and Governance”, in Oloruntoba and Falola, The Palgrave Handbook of
African Politics, Governance and Development (Palgrave, 2018), chapter 31.
SUMMARY: summarizes ~13 pages into 5.
Introduction
● Gender issues shape the lives of people in every society, influencing all aspects of our lives, they
affect all areas of governance.
● Women have been marginalized over time in political processes and governance in general,
leading to inequitable representation and participation in institutional structures in almost all
sectors.
● Gender inequality is not particular to Africa; it is a global phenomenon.
● In many cultures, women are relegated to the background, cultural norms dictate every aspect of
their lives, from their level of participation in societal affairs to their level of engagement with
their male counterparts.
● Culture also defines the rights of women relative to men.
● Religion has also exacerbated gender disparity.
● Islam tends to “quiet” women
● The Christian Bible exhorts women to “submit” to their husbands.
● Traditional or indigenous religions are no different
● In Africa, the societal stereotype is that a woman’s traditional role and highest decision-making
position is in her family.
● However, there is a changing trend in the orientation of gender roles in society.
● Going further back into history, there are several examples of matrilineal societies where women
ruled or had leadership roles in governance structures.
○ Women were regents, co-regents, city founders, army commanders, officers and soldiers,
and bodyguards.
○ For example, in West Africa in the 15th century, Queen Amina ruled the Kingdom of
Songhai in midNiger. Oral traditions note that Queen Amina was a warrior who waged
successful campaigns against neighboring territories.
● Colonialism made gender discrimination more pronounced by replacing the traditional
political system where women’s organizations were recognized with one that violated their
democratic rights.
● African feminism was launched in the early twentieth century by women such as:
○ Adelaide Casely-Hayford and Charlotte Maxeke, who in 1918 founded the Bantu
Women’s League in South Africa
○ Huda Sharawi, who in 1923 established the Egyptian Feminist Union.
● Modern African feminism was solidified during the landmark United Nations (UN) Decade for
Women (1975–1985) which resulted in feminist activism and scholarship.
● Today, at the forefront of using activism, knowledge, and creativity to change situations that
affect women negatively are African feminists, scholars, activists, artists, and politicians such as:
○ Leymah Gbowee, Joyce Banda, Dana, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
○ Feminist organizations such as the African Feminist Forum and the African Gender
Institute.
, 2
Gender Inequality: Meaning and Why It Matters for Governance in Africa
● Gender is viewed as a social construct that asserts the expectations, capabilities, and
responsibilities of men and women are not always biologically determined gender roles
○ They are significantly defined, structurally and culturally, in ways that create, reinforce,
and perpetuate relationships of male dominance and female subordination.
● The nature and extent of the discrimination vary considerably across countries and regions, but
the patterns are striking.
● UNDP 2013: Gender inequality is perpetuated through differential access to and control over
material resources and through gender norms and stereotypes that reinforce gendered identities
and constrain the behavior of women and men in ways that lead to inequality
○ This has hugely and negatively affected development.
How do we reconcile gender inequality based on the African experience and emerging realities?
● Although Article 4 of the African Union Charter unambiguously recognizes legal gender
equality for all Africans, the application of this article has varied from one country to another.
● Out of 54 countries in Africa, some (10 in specific) have made significant progress in reducing
the gender gulf, with the aim of totally eliminating the gap and inequality that the female
gender has suffered in the hands of their male counterparts as regards key positions of
decision-making:
○ Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Burundi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde,
Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
● According to a UNDP 2016 report: economic and social discrimination against women is costing
Africa more than US$100 billion a year.
○ The report found that African women across the board are denied the same kind of
economic, social, and political opportunities that men enjoy.
○ Women lose out when it comes to education, work, and health.
● African women have proved to be active producers and entrepreneurs. They make up a large
percentage of the agricultural labor force and they run the majority of businesses in the informal
sector - mainly occupied with subsistence farming.
● It is vital to boost their productive capacity so that they can generate more income for
themselves and their households, and by achieving this for themselves and their families they are
directly contributing to national integration (which starts with the family) and growth in gross
domestic product (GDP).
● Verloo (2011) has argued that to place the elimination of gender inequality at the core of our
concerns is to place attention on the intersections of gender with other inequalities in order to
achieve full equality for all.
Key Decision-Making Positions Occupied by Women in Africa
● Since the mid-1990s, there has been an increase in women’s political participation; women are
becoming more engaged in a variety of institutions from local government to legislatures, and
even the executive.
● Africa is a global leader in women’s parliamentary representation. additionally, African
countries have some of the world’s highest rates of gender representation.
○ Based on the 2014 rankings of countries with the most women in parliament in the
world: Seychelles: 43.8%, Senegal: 42.7%, and South Africa: 41.9%.
○ Women in the United States hold 19.3% of the seats in the House and 20% in the Senate.
, 3
● Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became the first elected female president in Africa in 2005. There have
been no fewer than nine female prime ministers in Africa since 1993. Since 1975 there have
been 12 female vice presidents.
In East Africa:
● Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda are doing relatively well as regards women’s participation
at the highest level of governance.
● As has been stated elsewhere, the two chambers of Rwanda’s parliament have a majority of
female parliamentarians.
In Central Africa:
● In the Central African Republic (CAR) Catherine Samba-Panza was the interim president who
stabilized the wartorn country between 2014 and 2016 before she handed over to
Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
● The number of women in government, as cited by the Women in Parliament Forum, stands at a
little over 12%, which is still very low.
In Northern Africa:
● Algerian women occupied 31% of parliamentary seats, placing the country 26th worldwide and
first in the Arab world.
In Southern Africa:
● Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, and Namibia are frontline states with regard to gender
parity, with Namibia leading the pack. Out of 104 seats in the Parliament, 43 are occupied by
women.
● In South Africa, the role of women in politics has increased since the end of apartheid through
policy changes and organizations that have been set up to enable women’s rights
In West Africa:
● Liberia is the first African country to produce a female president; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, however,
has scored low as regards representation of women in other key governing structures.
● Senegal has had two female prime ministers: Ms. Mame Madior Boye between 2001-2002 and
Ms. Aminata Toure between 2013-2014.
● Nigeria has not fared well in women’s participation in politics.
● A comparison of the five subregions in regards to the number of key governance roles that
women hold shows that while some of them, especially East Africa, are doing tremendously well
in bringing about gender parity in their governance structures, a lot more needs to be done to
make gender equality a dream come true for Africa
Why Women’s Participation in Governance Structure Matters
● Religious, cultural, and economic barriers, as well as the absence of female support for their own
and apathy, among others, all impede women’s opportunities and abilities to participate in
decision-making.
● Public affairs are traditionally regarded as the exclusive preserve of men. In Africa, it is the
notion that when men are talking, women keep quiet.
● One of the reasons why women’s participation should be taken seriously and promoted is the
fact that those women who have been privileged to govern have promoted security in their
various countries.
➔ The leadership of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia, which used to be a war zone)
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