Women and the remaking of politics in Southern Africa - negotiating autonomy, incorporation and representation

African women have a long history of political involvement. Yet, the fervour with which they participated in anti-colonial struggles and supported national liberation were not acknowledged after independence leaving them to fight for representation and personal liberation on other fronts. This study looks at women’s struggles in Southern Africa where the last ten years have seen the most pervasive success stories on the African continent. Tracing the history of women’s involvement in anti-colonial struggles and against apartheid, the book analyses post-colonial outcomes and examines the strategies employed by women’s movements to gain a foothold in politics. In this book, the author presents in depth analyses and women’s narratives of their experiences in political parties, in the national machinery for the advancement of women and in the autonomous women’s movements. Gisela Geisler is a senior researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway. She holds an M.A in Anthropology and a PhD in Sociology. She worked in Zambia through the 1980s, in South Africa in the 1990s and in West Africa since then. She has conducted field research in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia and she has also been involved in policy evaluation and project design in many East African countries. Her interests include gender and politics, gender mainstreaming, agricultural development and democratisation.