Seminar with Professor Aili Tripp, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The seminar will focus on why post-conflict countries in Africa had double the rates of female legislative representation compared with countries that have not undergone conflict. Why do these countries tend to have been more open to passing legislation and making constitutional changes relating to women's rights? How are these developments linked to women and peace movements during and after the war, international pressures, changing opportunity structures, disruptions in gender relations related to the conflict, and how are these developments historically specific to the post-1990 period. The talk is based on comparative research across Africa as well as fieldwork in Uganda, Liberia, Congo-Kinshasa and Angola.