MACMILLAN Gender, Protests and Political Change in Africa (Gender, Development and Social Change)

This book brings together conceptual debates on the impact of youth-hood and  gender on state building in Africa. It offers contemporary and interdisciplinary  analyses on the role of protests as an alternative route for citizens to challenge  the ballot box as the only legitimate means of ensuring freedom. Drawing on case  studies from seven African countries, the contributors focus on specific political  moments in their respective countries to offer insights into how the state/society  social contract is contested through informal channels, and how political power  functions to counteract citizen’s voices. These contributions offer a different way  of thinking about state-building and structural change that goes beyond the  system-based approaches that dominate scholarship on democratization and  political structures. In effect, it provides a basis for organizers and social   movements to consider how to build solidarity beyond influencing government  institutions. Chapters 3, 5, and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com. Review "This book is an important contribution by young African scholars and practitioners on current (and age old) challenges on the continent. Its key strength lies in the intersectional approach it adopts to assessing youth-led mass protests attempts to dislodge and transform current formations of State power across the continent, captured as they are by corporate, securocrat and local elite alliances and interests. Given that mass protests are becoming in many instances far more effective than elections in removing autocratic rulers, it is necessary to draw a spotlight on them to understand their inherent strengths and weaknesses. This book says what needs to be said at this moment in our history. It is a bold, and timely intervention." ―Sarah Mukasa, Deputy Director, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa "In an era where technology and state capture coupled with increased surveillance and erosions of rights are all moving at lightning speed on the African continent, young womxn are on the frontlines speaking out against injustices, charting new paths, experimenting with creative tactics and embracing informal organising models as opposed to those of formal NGOs. This edited collection is timely in providing a window into the current opportunities and challenges that arise in confronting state power on these terms."  ―Shereen Essof, Executive Director, Just Associates From the Back Cover “This edited collection elevates the complexities and contradictions of social movement dynamics and outcomes. … No doubt this book will be relevant for a long time as protests and social movements become hallmarks of our common political struggles of resistance and resilience. I see activists reading this book and self-checking on how the social movements they have been a part of have delivered for ‘the common good!’” ―Ndana Bofu-Tawamba, Executive Director, Urgent Action Fund Africa, Kenya “A thought-provoking edited collection that examines contemporary dissent and resistance to authoritarianism in Africa through the intersection of youth, gender and transformation. … It should be widely read by scholars, activists and politicians globally.” ―Cheryl Hendricks, Africa Institute of South Africa, Human Sciences Research Council This book brings together conceptual debates on the impact of youth-hood and  gender on state building in Africa. It offers contemporary and interdisciplinary  analyses on the role of protests as an alternative route for citizens to challenge  the ballot box as the only legitimate means of ensuring freedom. Drawing on case  studies from seven African countries, the contributors focus on specific political  moments in their respective countries to offer insights into how the state/society  social contract is contested through informal channels, and how polit