by Dzodzi Tsikata and Lyn Ossome
Introduction
This issue of FA reflects on Africa’s 21st century feminist struggles and move- ments, paying particular attention to the continuities and changes in terrains, organisational formations, politics, and strategies. The issue is inspired by the visibility of young feminist leadership in recent and ongoing struggles for decolonisation, democratisation, economic justice, and emancipation such as the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, otherwise referred to as the Arab Spring; the RhodesMustFall and FeesMustFall campaigns in South Africa; the Black Lives Matter movement; the uprisings against dictatorship and misrule in Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria; as well as more localised struggles against land and natural resource dispossession and immiseration across Africa.The unforgettable and emblematic media images of AishaYesufu of Nigeria and Alaa Salah of Sudan addressing massive demonstrations, and of young women leading campaigns in Tahrir Square, on university campuses and in the streets in Egypt, South Africa, and Namibia respectively, drew attention to women’s leadership and unsettled notions that they are second-tier players in national, Pan-African, and global struggles. While for superficial observers the sight of women on frontlines was unexpected and new, feminist scholars, drawing on their research on the long traditions of women’s activism, have seen these developments as a specific conjuncture in the movement building, thought leadership, and struggle credentials of African women.
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00_FA-2024_Vol.5.1-Editorial_Tsikata_Ossome