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SUMMARY:Book talk: Women and Power in Africa - Aspiring\, Campaigning\, an
 d Governing - Melanie L. Phillips and Martha C. Johnson
DTSTART:20230504T160000Z
DTEND:20230504T170000Z
UID:TALK199453@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:114043
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Melanie L. Phillips and Dr. Martha Johnson will present ke
 y findings from Women and Power in Africa\, a new edited volume that bring
 s together experts on gender and African politics to examine trends in wom
 en’s political participation across the continent.  \n\nZoom link: https
 ://zoom.us/j/98159652497?pwd=THR1bVFWRkNwVnZEQ0FvcjNGUENHQT09\n\nBackgroun
 d:\n\nOver the past three decades\, women’s political representation in 
 African politics—as aspirants\, candidates\, and elected officials—has
  increased dramatically. However\, this growth has not been uniform across
  the continent. In the absence of quotas\, regular multiparty elections—
 including in regionally significant democracies like Ghana and Nigeria—h
 ave often failed to produce major improvements in women’s access to poli
 tical power. Expensive election campaigns\, party biases\, conservative cu
 ltural norms\, as well as political violence act as recurring barriers. \n
 \nIn Women and Power in Africa\, editors Leonardo Arriola\, Martha Johnson
  and Melanie Phillips bring together a wide range of contributors to exami
 ne how women participate in African politics in all phases of the election
  cycle—from party nominations to governance. Drawing on a wide range of 
 cases—including Benin\, Ghana\, Malawi\, Zambia\, Kenya\, Namibia\, Burk
 ina Faso\, and Uganda—the volume argues for the importance of “taking 
 gender seriously and valuing women’s experiences as a source of empirica
 l evidence [to] uncover invaluable information about how politics operate
 ”.\n\nDuring this book talk hosted by the Centre of Governance & Human R
 ights at the University of Cambridge\, Dr. Phillips and Dr. Johnson will r
 eflect on the overarching themes that emerge from the project\, present fi
 ndings from their research on candidate selection in Zambia and women’s 
 local-level participation in Benin and Malawi\, and engage with questions 
 and reflections from participants. \n\nMA and PhD students  at the Univers
 ity of Cambridge with an interest in gender\, democracy\, and African poli
 tics are particularly encouraged to attend.\n\nAbout the speakers:\n\nDr. 
 Martha C. Johnson is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Political
  Science at Mills College. Her research examines the politics of bureaucra
 tic capacity in Africa\, as well as women in politics\, with a geographica
 l focus on Francophone states. She has conducted research in and written o
 n Burkina Faso\, Senegal\, and Benin. Her work has been published in Ameri
 can Journal of Political Science\, Comparative Political Studies\, Africa 
 Today\, Journal of Modern African Studies\, Development Policy Review\, an
 d Development and Change.\n\nDr. Melanie L. Phillips received her PhD in p
 olitical science from the University of California\, Berkeley\, in Spring 
 2022\, and currently works as a researcher on the Political Transformation
 s in African Cities Project supported by the Norwegian Research Council. H
 er research focuses on the intra-party dynamics of candidate selection in 
 new democracies where political parties control selection. Her dissertatio
 n research has been funded by the National Science Foundation as well as t
 he Institute of International Studies and the Center for African Studies a
 t UC Berkeley.\n\n\n*This talk is on the initiative of Saskia Brechenmache
 r\, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and a fellow in Carnegi
 e’s Democracy\, Conflict\, and Governance Program\, where her research f
 ocuses on gender\, civil society\, and democratic governance.\n
LOCATION:Online
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