Silenced Resistance: Women, Dictatorships, and Genderwashing in Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea

Joanna Allan's book highlights the role of gender in understanding authoritarian power projection and resistance in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara. She argues that regimes use genderwashing to promote equality while undermining womens rights, combining local, indigenous, and colonially imposed gender norms with Western misconceptions about African and Arab gender roles. This genderwashing shapes public resistance to authoritarian regimes.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2019
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

Spain's former African colonies, Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara, share a troubling history of oppression and lack of civil liberties. Both regions are under the control of heavy-handed, postcolonial regimes that have been condemned by human rights organizations for their human rights abuses. However, it is noteworthy that the resistance movements in these two countries differ significantly in terms of their leadership. In Equatorial Guinea, women dominate the resistance movement, while in Western Sahara, men hold the reins.

In her groundbreaking work, Joanna Allan explores why gender should be at the forefront of our understanding of authoritarian power projection and resistance. By incorporating an ethnographic lens into the study of this subject, Allan examines how concerns for equality and women's rights can be co-opted by authoritarian regimes. She sheds light on how Moroccan and Equatoguinean regimes, in collaboration with Western states and corporations, create a deceptive façade of promoting equality while undermining women's rights in pursuit of economic gains from oil, minerals, and other natural resources.

This genderwashing, combined with historical local, indigenous, and colonially imposed gender norms, as well as Western misconceptions about African and Arab gender roles, plays a crucial role in shaping and composition of public resistance to authoritarian regimes. Allan's work highlights the need to recognize the unique experiences and perspectives of women in the resistance movement and to address the systemic gender inequalities that contribute to authoritarianism. By doing so, we can work towards a more equitable and just world for all.

Weight: 678g
Dimension: 160 x 236 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780299318406