Why African Authoritarian Regimes Promote Women Leaders: The Case of Uganda

This seminar is hosted by the Nordic Africa Institute.

This seminar explores how and why ruling parties in African authoritarian regimes have promoted women as leaders through the use of quotas after the introduction of multi-party systems, especially after the early 1990s.

They have done so, research shows, primarily in order to further entrench their rule by instrumentalising women’s rights.

This, however, poses a conundrum, which the seminar explores: As women’s movements demand and gain increased political representation, the greater the risk that women’s inclusion is used to prop up illegitimate authoritarian regimes.

Keynote speaker

Aili Mari Tripp, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States of Americ

Discussants

Josephine Ahikire, Associate Professor, Makerere University, Uganda
Elin Bjarnegård, Associate Professor, Uppsala University, Sweden

Moderator

Diana Højlund Madsen, Senior researcher, The Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden

Opening remarks by Therese Sjömander Magnusson, Director, The Nordic Africa Institute

Contact

If you have any questions about the content of the seminar, please do not hesitate to contact Diana H. Madsen on email: .