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African Affairs Advance Access published online on March 13, 2008
African Affairs, doi:10.1093/afraf/adn003
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© The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved

‘This is The Time to Get in Front’: Changing Roles and Opportunities for Women in Liberia

Veronika Fuest

Veronika Fuest (fuest{at}eth.mpg.de) is a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany

Most research on women in war focuses on female losses. This article demonstrates that wars may also bring gains. The scope of political and economic roles that Liberian women perform today appears to be larger than before the war. Both individually and collectively, certain women have gainfully used openings the war provided them. The article discusses the historicity of Liberian gender roles, examining the social subgroups of politicians, businesswomen, women's organizations, employees, and school girls. Changes have also been fostered by the international peace-building and development business. Although the realization of female ambitions seems to be constrained by various institutional and economic factors, Liberia may harbour a unique potential for sustainable shifts in gender roles.

The Institute's financial support is gratefully acknowledged. My thanks also go to Mark Davidheiser, Werner Korte and Dorothy Tooman for constructive comments on earlier drafts of this article.


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