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Centering Feminists and Feminism in Protests in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2023

Rama Salla Dieng Open the ORCID record for Rama Salla Dieng [Opens in a new window] ,
Toni Haastrup Open the ORCID record for Toni Haastrup [Opens in a new window]  and
Alice J. Kang Open the ORCID record for Alice J. Kang [Opens in a new window]
Rama Salla Dieng*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, UK
Toni Haastrup
Affiliation:
University of Stirling, UK
Alice J. Kang
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska–Lincoln, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: rama.dieng@ed.ac.uk
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Extract

In recent years, struggles for justice, peace, and democracy around the world have been articulated through protests. Whether in Iran, Nigeria, Poland, Senegal, Tunisia, or the United States, this form of political participation challenges the status quo. Rising forms of autocratic rule, democratic backsliding, and right-wing populism underscore the urgency of protesters’ demands. Often overlooked in mainstream accounts, however, is the role of feminists in driving forward liberatory demands for new social contracts (Sen and Durano 2014). One recent example of this is the role that the Feminist Coalition played in the Nigerian #EndSARS protests, mobilizing against years of police brutality and impunity (Nwakanma 2022). Confronted with physical harm and even death, these feminists and their fellow protesters have strategized and theorized a vision for a better world (Nazneen and Okech 2021; Tamale 2020).

Type
Critical Perspective Introduction
Information
Politics & Gender , First View , pp. 1 - 4
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

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