Demanding Dignity: Women Confronting Economic Reforms in Africa

Karen Danielson, Ph.D., is a research consultant at Laurentian
University who specializes in leisure, textiles, family life, and Japan.

Based on 13 projects in 10 countries, Demanding Dignity offers a
sweeping analysis of the effects of the last 20 years of economic reform
on the lives of women in Africa. This collection of reports about the
practical needs of these women is important reading for anyone involved
with women’s issues. Some concerns that have been identified in these
situations may also deserve attention in other settings, including the
functions of extended families and communities, and the importance of
microfinance and the informal economy.

The book is also an important reference for anyone who is concerned
about economic justice or sustainable living. Each project enhances our
understanding of the importance and complexity of issues facing women as
economic reforms continue. Throughout the book, a dominant theme is the
way in which problems have been exacerbated by the absence of women from
the policy-making process. The reports describe experiments with
alliance building at all levels. The editors emphasize the need for
advocacy, training in advocacy, and the development of research agendas
that are explicitly advocacy-driven. They also note that the difficult
task of analyzing macroeconomic policy must be undertaken in order to
understand how to change the larger framework.

Anyone who is concerned about Africa will benefit from reading these
reports. Some of them are written like a good story, such as the report
on the Kumasi Central Market where 20,000 women traders served 200,000
customers daily without effective representation at decision-making
levels.

In 1996, the North-South Institute contributed to the launch of the
Gender and Economic Reforms in Africa (GERA) Program; this is the
initial report on that work. Researchers may want to use these reports
as examples of effective participatory research. They may also obtain
future reports in order to learn how these participatory techniques will
be maintained if advocacy and macro-level research become the new
priorities. Phase II will be conducted under the guidance of an
all-African steering committee working from Third World
Network–Africa, located in Accra, Ghana.