Small victories but slow progress

Between 1994 and 2006, Malawi experienced some gains in women's political participation and increased representation in Parliament. However, Malawi has not fared as well as many of its African neighbours in its efforts to promote women in leadership positions. In this article I examine the fact...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International feminist journal of politics 2008-06, Vol.10 (2), p.198-215
Main Author: Tiessen, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Feminism
Gender studies
Human Rights
Leadership
Malawi
Patriarchy
Political Participation
Political representation
Women and politics
Women's participation
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Summary:Between 1994 and 2006, Malawi experienced some gains in women's political participation and increased representation in Parliament. However, Malawi has not fared as well as many of its African neighbours in its efforts to promote women in leadership positions. In this article I examine the factors that contribute to Malawi's weak performance in this regard, including a political history of patriarchal rule, a political culture of neopatrimonialism, limited opportunities for women to demand access to positions of power (including no significant political transformation creating space for women's participation) and a social and cultural context which discourages women from entering politics. I examine these challenges to the political participation of women by drawing on feminist literature, as well as quantitative and qualitative data from a 2001 Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) study and twenty interviews with women in Malawi conducted in 2005. Reprinted by permission of Routledge, Taylor and Francis Ltd.
ISSN:1461-6742
DOI:10.1080/14616740801957547