ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historically framed overview of the development of contemporary African women's movements. It looks at the roots of contemporary women's mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa in the struggles for independence and during the years of one-party rule. The chapter shows women occupying important roles in democratization movements from the early 1990s on, gains that influenced later mobilization. It examines how the decline of conflict in at least sixteen countries opened up new possibilities for mobilization, when women had been engaged in peace movements during war. The chapter explores the factors leading to the rise of autonomous women's movements after the 1990s and their impact on women's rights reforms. The weakness of civil and political liberties and the constant threat that political space will close in the many semi-authoritarian and authoritarian African states impose serious constraints on women’s mobilization.
