Fundamentalism and Women’s Rights’ in Africa

The essential paradox about a globalised world is that as global business and micro politics have relentlessly spread across the globe, there has been a tendency for many people to get closer to the ethnic, national, religious and racial identities. This nestling within a known identity has been seen as a form of seeking certainty and belonging in a world in which political, social and economic boundaries are being challenged and eroded. It has resulted in an increase not only in conservatism but in religious fundamentalisms, and right wing nationalism based on notions of ethnic, racial and religious community identity.

This has conferred enormous power on the religious right. These fundamentalists have served to cement the already vulnerable positions of women in many countries and communities. The convergence of armed conflict and reduced levels of social cohesion and religious and ethnic fundamentalisms have often dramatically worsened the social and economic position of women. The definition of collective identities has framed approaches to gender.

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