Women Political Leaders in Rwanda and South Africa - Narratives of Triumph and Loss

Naleli Morojele

Barbara Budrich Publishers

2016

157 páginas

5h 14m

ISBN-10: 3847407457

The book is an exploration of the complexities of women's leadership in post-conflict Rwanda and South Africa. Through interviews with women who held political leadership positions in these countries, the book examines their educational, professional, activist, and personal backgrounds. It weaves a link between the complicated relationship between personal stories and the history of the societies these women came from, and eventually led. Rwanda and South Africa have amongst the highest representation levels of women in national legislatures in the world. Consequently, the recent literature on women and politics in these countries mostly focuses on women parliamentarians only. However, there is a need to examine the nuances of women's political leadership, amongst and beyond parliamentarians. To this end, narratives were collected from eleven semi-structured interviews with women political leaders in Rwanda and South Africa. These narratives suggest new insights in the area of women and politics in these countries. Firstly, early life experiences influence their political priorities as leaders. Secondly, in relation to ordinary women, women political leaders are an educationally and professionally advantaged group of women. Thirdly, their experiences and positions within society and politics are still greatly influenced by their gender, and gender inequality. Lastly, their leadership is influenced by numerous factors, which ultimately affects the impact of their presence. In light of this, their experiences show that women political leaders are still affected by their gendered status within society, thus affecting the contributions that they are able to make in rebuilding their societies. [Subject: Gender Studies, African Studies, Politics, Sociology]

Resenhas (1)

5 (Perfeito)

Participação e estudo de casos

Este presente livro foi uma grande descoberta para mim uma vez que meu tema de pesquisa é baseado na participação feminina na vida pública (especialmente no parlamento) em Ruanda. Confesso que durante a leitura foquei mais nos casos de Ruanda.
O livro traz uma série de questões muito interessantes sobre as peculiaridades do pós genocídio e de como, na visão também das mulheres do parlamento, diversos aspectos foram trabalhados em conjunto com o novo governo ao longo dos últimos anos. Por ser recente, levanta uma discussão quente sobre o real papel da implantação das cotas, políticas de gênero no geral, visto que, no país, as mulheres são mais da metade da população, e foram as principais responsáveis por reerguer o país no pós conflito.