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c h a p t e r f i v e 䉬•䉬 Capturing Democracy In 2002, the courage, resilience, patience and commitment of members of the Green Belt Movement, other civil society organizations, and the Kenyan public culminated in the peaceful transition to a democratic government and laid the foundation for a more stable society. Wangari Maathai, December 10, 2004 In 2004, Wangari Maathai was the first African woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in sustainable development, democracy, and peace. In Kenya, she gained the reputation as a champion against rights abuses as she led the Green Belt Movement in addressing sustainable development and then democratization . She was one of the main actors who questioned the Kenyan government , and she was arrested and beaten on several occasions, which only strengthened her resolve. Maathai represents the determination of women working across sub-Saharan Africa to create a change with democratization. With transitions to democracy, many women’s organizations in African countries now view the formal political process as a means to change their economic, social, and political situation. In Malawi, nonpartisan women’s organizations formed to influence the rewriting of their constitutions (Tripp 2001b). In Zambia , alliances among women’s organizations and lobby groups fought to get more women into government positions (Geisler 1995). Urban women in Tanzania began working across ethnic, age, and religious lines for political purposes (Tripp 1994). The number of women’s organizations grew so rapidly that the Tanzania Gender Networking Program developed to provide a forum for women’s organizations to share their progress, ideas, and outcomes. Women’s organizations in Ghana are taking similar actions. During the 1996 election year, the International Association for the Advancement of Women in Africa (ASAWA) and the United Women’s Front (UNIWAF) held democratization workshops throughout Ghana to educate women on voting procedures, the importance of voting, the role of women in politics, and the di¤erent political par- ties. FIDA and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) traveled around Ghana informing women of their right to vote in the elections. FIDA also lobbied the government on gender-related issues such as the practice of trokosi and female genital cutting. At the same time, a number of religious women’s organizations , educational women’s organizations, and small community organizations incorporated aspects of the formal political process into their agenda. Leaders of the organizations spoke to their members about the importance of voting and expressing their economic and political concerns by participating in the electoral process. Despite the hindrances women originally faced with the transition to democracy , the democratization process created the political opportunity needed for women to slowly take advantage of it. As the control of the authoritarian regime dissipated, women realized that they could become more active with little retribution . In addition, once funding began to be focused on good-governance programs in the mid to late 1990s, members of women’s organizations were able to increase their activities, as well as their visibility. These changes allowed women to concentrate on elections as a site to engage the state in addressing women’s concerns. Women’s gradual mobilization in Ghana took off when more than 30 women were sexually assaulted and murdered by a serial killer between 1997 and 2000, creating an urgency for members of women’s organizations to draw upon both new political structures and familiar gendered structures. Their actions were made possible in part by three salient changes that had taken place since the transition to democracy. First, members of women’s organizations realized that the change in the government and the openness of the democratic environment a¤orded them with the opportunity to confront issues they normally would have avoided. Second, they recognized the importance of bringing women into formal politics for the purpose of representation, as well as to address concerns directly a¤ecting women. Specifically, they focused on the idea that only women could e¤ectively represent the needs and concerns of women. Third, members of women’s organizations knew they could not achieve their goals without the support of the female population and concentrated on mobilizing women to engage formal politics. Their mobilization was dependent on their success in framing their collective identity, as well as on the resources available to them. Ultimately, the need for mobilization crystallized because of the serial killings. The state’s apathetic response sparked the movement, which reached its height during the 2000 presidential elections. 76 d e m o c...

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