"Try anything but what you ought to be":
Wangari Maathai, gender, and politics in Kenya
Anaïs Angelo
Abstract
In 2004 Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, rewarding her commitment to "sustainable development, democracy and peace". By then, Maathai was a prominent figure of Kenyan politics, though she had been seen for many years as a troublemaker. Her rise to prominence remains controversial. First African woman to get a Doctorate, Maathai became known as the leader of several women’s associations (notably the National Council of Women of Kenya) and as the founder of the Green Belt Movement, an ecological association later turned into a political party. She eventually became an MP in 2002 and Assistant minister in 2003. Yet, she is barely remembered today in the Kenyan society. Reasons for this silence lie in the fact that Maathai did not fit the traditional image of a "proper woman": submissive and silent. To the contrary, she defied the masculine and patriarchal order established by the ruling elite. This paper will analyse how Maathai challenged the space and roles reserved for female leaders in Kenya and how she confronted the traditional association of masculinity and power.
Zur Person
Anaïs Angelo holds a Ph.D. from the European University Institute. She is now a Post Doc at the Institute for African Studies, University of Vienna (Austria), where she is working on a project entitled "Where are the Women? Power, Gender and Political Biographies in Kenya".
Panel 12: Politik, Identität und Biographie
Zeit: Freitag, 08. November 2019, 09:00-10:30 Uhr
Raum: Seminarraum 3, Universitätsstraße 15, 1. Stock WEST
Veranstaltet von der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Geschlechterforschung und der FP Center Interdisziplinäre Geschlechterforschung Innsbruck (CGI) in Kooperation mit dem Büro für Gleichstellung und Gender Studies der Universität Innsbruck.
