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Why rural Malian women want to be candidates for local office: changes in social and political life and the arrival of a gender quota

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2019

Cathryn Evangeline Johnson
Cathryn Evangeline Johnson*
Affiliation:
Indiana UniversityDepartment of Political Science, 210 Woodburn Hall, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
*
Email: catejohn@indiana.edu
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Abstract

Why would rural Malian women express interest in political participation? Mali implemented a gender quota during the 2016 local elections. In a rural village where I conducted immersive research, the majority of women I interviewed following the 2016 poll expressed interest in running for local office in the future. Scholars of women's political participation theorise that quotas bring women to elected office and increase women's political participation. These theoretical perspectives cannot fully explain why women in rural Mali would express enthusiastic interest in political participation. These women participate extensively in savings and credit associations. Drawing on data generated through engagement with women in their daily lives, I explore how economic advancement can shape women's participatory aspirations. Examining longer-term changes in the local political economy of this rural village provides a deeper understanding of why women responded positively to a new institutional opening for political participation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 393 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

The Social Science Research Council and Indiana University's Ostrom Workshop funded this research. I thank the residents of Sumayadugu who graciously took time to participate in this project. Aili Mari Tripp, N'do Cisse, Sarah Monson, and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful feedback.

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Interviews

Kadiatou, gardener, market seller, farmer, Sumayadugu, 17.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Idrissa, literacy instructor, farmer, Sumayadugu, 4.10.2016.Google Scholar
Amadou, primary school teacher, farmer, Sumayadugu, 28.9.2016.Google Scholar
Drissa, farmer, Sumayadugu, 4.10.2016.Google Scholar
Siddiki, farmer, Sumayadugu, 27.1.2017.Google Scholar
The Imam of Sumayadugu, 11.3.2017.Google Scholar
Hamid, farmer, Sumayadugu, 28.2.2017.Google Scholar
Ibrahim, nurse, Sumayadugu, 4.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Jelika, gardener, market seller, Sumayadugu, 19.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Mawa, market seller, gardener, farmer, Sumayadugu, 26.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Assetou, health worker, gardener, Sumayadugu, 28.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Salimatou, fried pastry seller, Sumayadugu, 6.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Bibata, gardener, market seller, Sumayadugu, 12.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Amina, health worker, Sumayadugu, 4.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Ramatou, gardener, vegetable seller, Sumayadugu, 5.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Alimatou, primary school teacher, Sumayadugu, 8.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Chef, village chief, Sumayadugu, 11.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Moussa, NGO worker, Sumayadugu, 3.10. 2016.Google Scholar
Salimata, market seller, Sumayadugu, 25.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Adèle, Central government civil service employee, Sumayadugu, 15.9. 2016.Google Scholar
Masaratou, market seller, Sumayadugu, 26.9. 2016.Google Scholar
Haja, market seller, gardener, farmer, Sumayadugu, 6.3. 2017.Google Scholar
Kadi, gardener, soap seller, farmer, Sumayadugu, 21.2. 2017.Google Scholar
Mariam, retired, Sumayadugu, 26.2. 2017.Google Scholar