Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WOMPOL-AFRICA (Women Politicians in Africa: War of Symbols and the Struggle for Political Legitimacy)
Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2023-09-30
This Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA) titled ‘Women Politicians in Africa: War of Symbols and the Struggle for Political Legitimacy’ (WOMPOL-AFRICA) explored the insights that sites of meaning production offer about African women’s struggle for political legitimacy. In postconflict periods in Africa, men often dominate the ‘war of symbols,’ that is, the struggles over meaning production that often characterise nation-building processes because they occupy the majority of decision-making positions in sites of meaning production such as history books, news media, documentaries, biographical films, published biographies and recorded interviews. Censorship by governments, political groups and communities also plays a significant role in silencing women. Patriarchal gender hierarchies are, therefore, often restored and reinforced in part through scripts written primarily by men, and women are relegated to supporting actors. This impacts women’s claims to political legitimacy since, in many African countries, political parties and leaders often justify their political authority by emphasising their roles in liberating their nations from, for example, colonialism or dictators.
The objectives of the Action were to a) build on important work by academics and feminists and contribute towards an interdisciplinary understanding of African women’s struggle for political legitimacy in postconflict periods; b) increase awareness of the significant role that the source of a woman’s political power plays in influencing her ability to participate effectively in national politics. To address these objectives, the Action i) contextualised women’s access to political power by tracing the experiences of individual women politicians through their portrayals in biographies, news media, film, and other cultural artefacts and examining their unique circumstances; ii) provided a more complex view of women’s struggle for political legitimacy by focusing on the intersection of patriarchal oppression and women’s resistance in the war of symbols; iii) explored the possibilities that the study of film and other media offer in generating and complementing conventional social science research. Mainly focussing on how studying sites of struggles over meaning can enrich our political conceptions and repertoires for action; iv) drew attention, through research and dissemination, to how perceptions about women’s sources of political power impact their claim to political legitimacy. In addition to these, another goal of the MSCA Individual Fellowship was to foster the development of the individual researcher.
The objectives of the Action were to a) build on important work by academics and feminists and contribute towards an interdisciplinary understanding of African women’s struggle for political legitimacy in postconflict periods; b) increase awareness of the significant role that the source of a woman’s political power plays in influencing her ability to participate effectively in national politics. To address these objectives, the Action i) contextualised women’s access to political power by tracing the experiences of individual women politicians through their portrayals in biographies, news media, film, and other cultural artefacts and examining their unique circumstances; ii) provided a more complex view of women’s struggle for political legitimacy by focusing on the intersection of patriarchal oppression and women’s resistance in the war of symbols; iii) explored the possibilities that the study of film and other media offer in generating and complementing conventional social science research. Mainly focussing on how studying sites of struggles over meaning can enrich our political conceptions and repertoires for action; iv) drew attention, through research and dissemination, to how perceptions about women’s sources of political power impact their claim to political legitimacy. In addition to these, another goal of the MSCA Individual Fellowship was to foster the development of the individual researcher.
Work was conducted via four work packages (WPs). In WP1: Researcher training and development, the researcher completed six intensive courses to acquire up-to-date training in cutting-edge methodologies in political science and social sciences generally. She utilised the expertise of researchers from across disciplines in the host institution, for example, by joining reading and writing groups, participating in meetings and seminars and attending classes. She was exposed to critical debate and deliberation and engaged with various stakeholders, including organisations and experts outside academia. To build mentorship skills, the researcher supervised five teams of Master’s students for their Applied Research Projects (ARPs) and two Master’s theses. She also received continuous hands-on training from her supervisor and research support officers on transferable skills in proposal preparation, project management, task coordination, supervising and monitoring, financial oversight, and the take-up and exploitation of research results. For WP2: Literature review, the researcher carried out a review of literature leading to further development of the project’s conceptual framework. The output was a draft of the introductory chapter that will be part of a book that is in development. For WP3: Data collection, the researcher collected data from online platforms, the library and through a research trip in which she utilised archival collections. The data collected formed the basis of WP4. For WP4: Data analysis, the researcher analysed data through a triangulation process, linking various sites of meaning production. The results were disseminated in seven paper presentations at five highly regarded international conferences; three journal articles under review and two more in development; film screening and discussion; and three outreach activities targeting individuals and organisations working in policy and development and concerned with promoting women’s leadership and reducing gender and other forms of inequality in the Global South. A book manuscript is in development.
The Action’s innovation lies partly in its interdisciplinary exploration of women politicians’ experiences. It incorporates intersectional and intertextual analyses in a project that combines historical, postcolonial, political, media, cultural, gender and feminist studies. The Action, therefore, opens new pathways for understanding African women politicians’ experiences. It sheds more light on contextual factors to take into account when considering effective ways of promoting women’s political leadership. It provides insights and serves as a basis for future multidisciplinary inquiries into strategies to strengthen women’s political participation in Africa and other regions of the Global South. The Action also introduced a relevant new research topic to the host institution, complementing its interdisciplinary nature and enhancing its engagement with researchers from the Global South. The researcher enhanced the host institution’s research networks through conference participation and promoting global North-South collaborations among academics and non-academics, leading to the expansion of interdisciplinary and intercultural theoretical expertise, new interdisciplinary perspectives and comparative approaches, and intersectoral exchange. At the same time, the researcher acquired new skills in interdisciplinary research methods and expanded her professional career perspectives beyond traditional roles in academia, positioning herself at the intersection of academic, international and development institutions. The researcher expanded her professional networks and advanced her publishing, project management and grant application skills. She can now firmly position herself as an experienced academic and project manager, independently lead a collaborative research team, and lead grant applications. The work carried out in the Action also promotes insights that advance peace and security, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, the protection of human rights, social inclusion, social justice and protection, and equality between women and men. Potential users of the project results include individuals and organisations working in foreign policy and development institutions in the Global South to promote women’s leadership and reduce gender and other forms of inequality.