Gender, Protests and Political Change in Africa

"This edited collection elevates the complexities and contradictions of social movement dynamics and outcomes. ... No doubt this book will be relevant for a long time as protests and social movements become hallmarks of our common political struggles of resistance and resilience. I see activists reading this book and self-checking on how the social movements they have been a part of have delivered for 'the common good!'"

-Ndana Bofu-Tawamba, Executive Director, Urgent Action Fund Africa, Kenya

"A thought-provoking edited collection that examines contemporary dissent and resistance to authoritarianism in Africa through the intersection of youth, gender and transformation. ... It should be widely read by scholars, activists and politicians globally."

-Cheryl Hendricks, Africa Institute of South Africa, Human Sciences Research Council

This book brings together conceptual debates on the impact of youth-hood and gender on state building in Africa. It offers contemporary and interdisciplinary analyses on the role of protests as an alternative route for citizens to challenge the ballot box as the only legitimate means of ensuring freedom. Drawing on case studies from seven African countries, the contributors focus on specific political moments in their respective countries to offer insights into how the state/society social contract is contested through informal channels, and how political power functions to counteract citizen's voices. These contributions offer a different way of thinking about state-building and structural change that goes beyond the system-based approaches that dominate scholarship on democratization and political structures. In effect, it provides a basis for organizers and social movements to consider how to build solidarity beyond influencing government institutions.

Awino Okech is a Lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), UK.

Chapters 3, 5, and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.