With a grant from APSA’s Artinian Fund, Leonardo Arriola, University of California, Berkeley, and Martha Johnson, Mills College, hosted a workshop on 3-4 September 2017 for junior and senior scholars studying the role of African women in politics. Held at UC Berkeley, the workshop brought together scholars from the United States, Europe, and Africa to receive critical feedback for a joint publication that will produce new insights on women’s political participation and representation. The works of these scholars move beyond existing research on women’s election to African parliaments to new topics such as the challenges women face in primary elections and how they navigate cabinet politics. For their research, the scholars draw on in-depth interviews with women politicians, surveys of both candidates and elected officials, participant observation, and media analysis. The workshop was co-sponsored by Berkeley’s Center for African Studies and Townsend Center for the Humanities.
The event began with lunch on Sunday, September 3, immediately after the 2017 APSA annual conference in San Francisco, and included afternoon panels on Sunday followed by dinner. Monday morning included two more panels, followed by lunch. Participants read all the contributions, and the conference organizers facilitated an open discussion of each paper. Discussion over lunch on Monday focused on common themes and next directions.
Session 4: Women Politicians: Who Runs? Who Wins?