Gender Balance and the Meanings of Women in Governance in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6021995
AutoresJennie E Burnet (0000-0002-5865-3501, Gender Studies, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume107
Fascículo428
Páginas361-386
Data de publicação2008-05-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAfrican Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0001-9909 • E-ISSN: 1468-2621
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/afraf/adn024
OpenAlexW2106327735
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas122

Across Africa, many countries have taken initiatives to increase the participation and representation of women in governance. Yet it is unclear what meaning these initiatives have in authoritarian, single-party states like Rwanda. Since seizing power in 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front has taken many steps to increase the participation of women in politics such as creating a Ministry of Gender, organizing women's councils at all levels of government, and instituting an electoral system with reserved seats for women in the national parliament. This article explores the dramatic increase in women's participation in public life and representation in governance and the increasing authoritarianism of the Rwandan state under the guise of ‘democratization’. The increased political participation of women in Rwanda represents a paradox in the short term: as their participation has increased, women's ability to influence policy making has decreased. In the long term, however, increased female representation in government could prepare the path for their meaningful participation in a genuine democracy because of a transformation in political subjectivity.

Authoritarianism · Corporate governance · Democracy · Democratization · Economics · Government (linguistics) · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Representation (politics) · Sociology · Subjectivity · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Public Administration