Regionalism, citizenship and gender in Africa: a feminist perspective

Abstract

This paper aims to critically analyse the impact of regionalism on African women´s citizenship, in order to identify key questions that need to be addressed for a deeper understanding of potential implications and consequences of existing regionalisation policies and processes on gender relations and women´s rights in the continent. The first section discusses the methodological and conceptual issues raised by the mainstream theories and frameworks for a gender analysis of both regionalism and citizenship in Africa. The second section deals with some conceptual issues that characterise the policy framework within which regional integration policies are being formulated and implemented. The third section focuses on the potential impact of hegemonic regional integration schemes such as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) driven by the EU on women´s rights and gender relations in the case of ECOWAS.