ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s the countries of the Sahel have been experimenting with democratic systems that have resulted in both political pluralism with a gendered dimension and a renewed place for Islam in the public sphere. This essay focuses on the emergence of Muslim women’s social reform movements advocating for women’s rights in the region. These movements manifest a diversity of trajectories and objectives. As I will argue, the quest by Muslim women activists for women’s rights and gender justice in accordance with new readings of Islam and state laws must be understood at the juncture of economic liberalization, democratic pluralism, and religious transformations and more recently the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay discusses cases of social changes resulting from Muslim women’s reform movements in education, public health, politics, the law, the arts, and the use of old and new media.
