Bargaining for Women's Rights

Alice J. Kang is assistant professor of political science and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

• ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction: Women’s Rights in an African Muslim Democracy1. A French Colonial Legacy: The Making of Niger’s Legal System2. The Puzzle of Non-Adoption: Why Niger Has No Family Code3. Bargaining for Women’s Representation: The Adoption of a Gender Quota4. Bringing Rights Home: How Niger Ratified CEDAW and Rejected the Maputo ProtocolConclusion: Rethinking Women’s ActivismAppendix: Research MethodsNotesBibliographyIndex

"Alice J. Kang compellingly argues that governments are more likely to adopt women's rights reforms when local activists mobilize for them, that opposing activists must also be considered, and that political context is essential for understanding outcomes around women's rights."-Gretchen Bauer, University of Delaware"Bargaining for Women’s Rights is a refreshing approach to thinking about women's rights in majority Muslim countries that captures how civil society groups mobilize and how multiple components of 'the state' actually debate women's rights legislation."-Barbara Cooper, Rutgers University"[Kang] includes an impressive combination of original empirical research and review and analysis of alternative hypotheses to assert the argument that women, and women's movements, matter in the adoption of gender equality policies."-CHOICE"An engaging, detailed look at how women activists played a vital role in Niger’s adoption of women’s rights policies."-Washington Post"Fills an important research void on determinants of women’s rights policy making in Muslim-majority democracies."-International Journal of Feminist Politics"Scholars in political science, sociology, women’s studies, and public policy will benefit from the theoretical and substantive contributions of Bargaining for Women’s Rights."-Mobilization"An impressive study of the competition between women activists and religious conservatives in Muslim-majority, francophone Niger."-Canadian Journal of Political Science