Forging Ahead without an Affirmative Action Policy: Female Politicians in Sierra Leone's Post‐War Electoral Process
In contemporary post‐conflict Sierra Leone, women have managed to secure 13.5 per cent of seats in parliament – without affirmative action in place, thanks to women's groups' and coalitions' mobilisation and activism. While the political resistance to Sierra Leone having a quota was high, the women's movement has succeeded in forcing the political parties and the government to recognise that it is no longer politically viable to sidestep women's rights, should they wish to capitalise on women's voting power. As women's organisations, in particular the 50/50 group, continue the struggle to introduce a quota, the challenge for Sierra Leonean women is how to ensure that the quota project is not hijacked by the male‐dominated political establishment. To this aim, this article examines the ongoing efforts to politically consciencise women parliamentarians, society and political parties.
From Global Policy to Local Knowledge: What is the Link between Women's Formal Political Participation and Gender Equality in Conflict‐affected Contexts?
type="graphical" xml:id="gpol12083-abs-0002"> In many post-conflict contexts, quotas for women's formal participation are introduced as part of restructuring political and social landscape. While many women take part in formal politics many more still experience inequalities determined by their gender positions.
The West African Students' Union: A Study in Culture Contact
Opening Paragraph This study of a specific instance of culture contact, that provided by the situation of West African students in Britain, is limited to a discussion and analysis of their association in the West African Students' Union. The fact of common geographical origin partly explains the formation of such a Union, for the same reason as United States, Canadian, South African, and other large groups of students living in Britain have become so organized. But this would ignore the situation of colour prejudice facing coloured students in Britain, and also their colonial status in relation to Britain. Because of this determining characteristic of being an association of coloured colonial students, the West African Students' Union has developed, throughout its history, certain features not normally found among students' unions, and which are reminiscent of ‘protest movements’. The analysis which is presented here seeks to determine the reasons why West African students organized themselves into the West African Students' Union from 1926 onwards. It is unfortunately not possible to do more here than touch briefly upon the major changes which took place during that time, but as most of the data here presented have not hitherto been published, enough details have been included to give an idea of the manner in which members of the West African Students' Union responded to the situation of culture contact. The paper is divided into two parts: first, an historical account of the type of ideas held by the members of the Union; and, secondly, a discussion of the reasons why West African students join the Union. Résumé L'ASSOCIATION DES ÉTUDIANTS DE L'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE ÉTUDE SUR LES RAPPORTS CULTURELS L'Auteur, après avoir exposé le caractère distinctif de l'Association des Étudiants de l'Afrique Occidentale, en tant qu'association d'étudiants coloniaux de couleur, en Grande-Bretagne, donne un aperçu de la fondation et de l'histoire de l'Association, des aspirations et des sentiments qui animent ses membres, ainsi que de leurs réactions contre les changements politiques et sociaux qui ont eu lieu en Europe et en Afrique pendant les 27 années qui ont suivi sa fondation. L'auteur décrit la croissance graduelle de l'esprit nationaliste et du désir d'autonomie, ainsi que l'influence des idéologies courantes —chrétienne, libérale et marxiste — sur les générations successives d'étudiants. II constate, parmi les membres de l'Association des Étudiants de l'Afrique Occidentale, un plus vif intérêt dans la politique et une conception politique plus radicale que ceux qui existent dans d'autres associations d'étudiants africains en Grande-Bretagne. Une analyse des raisons pour lesquelles les membres adhèrent à l'Association fait entrevoir qu'elle a fourni, à la fois, un point de concentration et une issue à ceux qui sont plus profondément sensibles à leur statut colonial et aux préjugés de race, et, également, à ceux qui demandent un champ plus vaste d'intérêts et d'activités que celui qui existe dans d'autres groupes ayant une base territoriale plus étroite.