2014-2015 Academic Catalog

May 17, 2024

2014-2015 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

IDCE 30223 - Gender, Politics and Development in Africa

This course covers a range of issues involving questions of gendered politics and development in Africa both north and south of the Sahara. It examines the gender-specific aspects of the continent’s histories of colonialism, slavery, and apartheid on women and men; women’s roles in anti-colonial struggles; and the gender politics of nationalist movements. Through specific themes and case studies, students will build or strengthen their knowledge about contemporary Africa, and the gendered structures, institutions, and social relations that continue to shape the challenges affecting the continent. The course examines the response of women, women’s organizations and networks, and other stakeholders, to these challenges. Themes includes distorted development and gender inequality, sustainable development, gender and HIV/AIDS, conflict, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction, gender and economic crises, quotas, politicized Islam and women, the impact of the “Arab Spring” on women’s rights, the African human rights system, forced displacement, and the Millennium Development Goals.

In groups, students will work on short assignments in collaboration with relevant organizations or activists in and outside Africa.