Women and Power in Postconflict Africa by Aili Mari Tripp (review)

In Women and Power in Postconflict Africa, Aili Tripp sets out to explain why women were able to move into more positions of formal political power in countries that had experienced conflict. While she focuses on three case studies—Liberia, Uganda, and Angola (with Angola being a counterexample)—her findings draw from years of investigating African women and politics and often call on comparative evidence from other countries. Throughout, a variety of graphs and charts help to explain sometimes intricate relationships between specific elements related to women and politics.

Tripp’s conclusion is complicated, and she specifically denies simple explanations. It has been suggested that skewed sex ratios resulting from more men dying in conflict was a central explanation in Rwanda, where women in 2012 held 64 percent of the seats in Parliament. In fact, changes in sex ratios in society are shown to have little to no bearing on women’s improved status. There appear to be three key factors, and each one includes multipart details that make the argument complex and nuanced. To summarize, the three key elements in women’s gaining a stronger position are (1) a country’s history of conflict, (2) the involvement of women’s movements in civil society, and (3) international pressure for women’s rights.

Each of those factors is far more complex than such a summary suggests. The kind of conflict is important, as is the timing. Conflict has an impact because it usually results in a disruption in the gender regime, allowing women an entrance into the political arena. The most efficacious moment was for conflicts that ended in the mid-1990s or later. The more influential women’s movements are those based in civil society, rather than party affiliates or other officially sanctioned organizations. Effective women’s groups bring together women from across religious and ethnic divisions, and they are able to advocate for peace from a position of cooperation rather than discord. An international presence that encourages women’s authority by providing both moral support and financial backing also plays a key role.

The structure of the book results in some repetition, as Tripp begins with an overview to introduce the three factors, and then details each country’s history with attention to each of the three key elements. She then widens the lens to discuss African women’s involvement in negotiating peace agreements and advocating for women’s rights in new or revised constitutions, and concludes with outcomes for women, leadership, and legislative reform. One important measure is the number of women in national legislatures: postconflict nations have 29 percent women legislators on average, while countries that have not successfully come through conflict average 16 percent. The successful countries can be viewed not only in terms of the numbers of women in government, but also in the inclusion of women’s rights in the constitutions and in legal reform.

Tripp also assesses other factors that have been put forward as having a positive impact on women’s political gains, including such issues as democratization, female education, the presence of oil, and the role of left-leaning parties. But her data demonstrate that postconflict nations are the places that exhibit a greater role for women, increased attention to gender in the constitution, and more legislation on such issues as gender-based violence, inheritance and property rights, and the introduction of family laws that seek to improve women’s rights. Her statistical evaluation, including the quantifying of such features as the amount of new legislation related to women, conclusively demonstrates that no other factors have the same influence as being postconflict.

There are lessons to be learned from the positive and negative examples. Both Uganda and Liberia benefited from strong women’s movements that took advantage of the gender disruption that came with conflict and then interceded in peace negotiations; both also enjoyed the presence of...