Bargaining for Women’s Rights: Activism in an Aspiring Muslim Democracy asks why a Muslim-majority democracy, the Republic of Niger, adopted some gender equality reforms and rejected others. It argues that Niger’s seemingly inconsistent policies on gender equality can be explained by the mobilization of women and conservative and the political context. Governments are more likely to adopt gender equality reforms when women mobilize for them. Women’s activists are not the only ones who care about the regulation of gender relations. Conservative activists may mobilize as well. In democratic cont ... More

Bargaining for Women’s Rights: Activism in an Aspiring Muslim Democracy asks why a Muslim-majority democracy, the Republic of Niger, adopted some gender equality reforms and rejected others. It argues that Niger’s seemingly inconsistent policies on gender equality can be explained by the mobilization of women and conservative and the political context. Governments are more likely to adopt gender equality reforms when women mobilize for them. Women’s activists are not the only ones who care about the regulation of gender relations. Conservative activists may mobilize as well. In democratic contexts where public opinion polling is limited, women’s and conservative activists must use other tactics to convince government officials that their demands represent the will of the electorate. The activists who succeed use locally salient symbols and public rituals to draw the line between policies that are thinkable and unthinkable. Thus, Islam does not have a uniformly negative effect on women’s rights policy adoption, contrary to the conventional wisdom. Further, government concerns about international funding and reputation, even for countries as poor as Niger, are mediated by the demands and power of domestic groups.