Gender in Zambian Politics : Zambian Female Politicians’ Experiences about their Possibilities to Participate in Decision-Making Processes
Paakkinen, Karoliina (2020)
2020
Yhteiskuntatutkimuksen maisteriohjelma - Master's Degree Programme in Social Sciences
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-05-08
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004203429
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004203429
Tiivistelmä
This master’s thesis covers gender in Zambian politics by focusing on Zambian female councillors’ possibilities to participate in decision-making. The research question is “What is the significance of gender in Zambian politics?” and the subquestions are “What kind of attitudes towards women’s political participation predominate in Zambia?” and “What resources affect women’s political participation in Zambia?”
The topic is discussed by means of the theoretical concepts state, citizenship, and gender. Interviews of eleven Zambian female councillors are the main data for this thesis. Ethnographical findings from Zambia supplement the interviews. The data is scrutinized by means of an ethnographic analysis.
The main outcome of the research is that gender is very significant in Zambian politics but its influence can be both negative and positive depending on the context. Gender plays a more crucial role in the beginning of female politicians’ careers and in becoming a politician but later on the significance of gender decreases. For example, gaining support from one’s family for the idea of becoming a politician can be difficult for Zambian women but later, when women are already politicians, people are more likely to start supporting them.
Attitudes and resources are the main factors that influence women’s political participation. Change is happening in attitudes towards women's political participation in Zambia, but there are still people who think that politics is only for men. In Zambia, attitudes supporting traditional roles where the private sphere is for women and the public sphere is for men, still remain. On the other hand, there are people who are very supportive towards women’s political participation and only vote for women in elections. Gender is significant with regards to resources too. For instance, men are generally in a more privileged position vis-à-vis financial resources and education compared to women, and this hinders women’s possibilities for political participation in Zambia.
The topic is discussed by means of the theoretical concepts state, citizenship, and gender. Interviews of eleven Zambian female councillors are the main data for this thesis. Ethnographical findings from Zambia supplement the interviews. The data is scrutinized by means of an ethnographic analysis.
The main outcome of the research is that gender is very significant in Zambian politics but its influence can be both negative and positive depending on the context. Gender plays a more crucial role in the beginning of female politicians’ careers and in becoming a politician but later on the significance of gender decreases. For example, gaining support from one’s family for the idea of becoming a politician can be difficult for Zambian women but later, when women are already politicians, people are more likely to start supporting them.
Attitudes and resources are the main factors that influence women’s political participation. Change is happening in attitudes towards women's political participation in Zambia, but there are still people who think that politics is only for men. In Zambia, attitudes supporting traditional roles where the private sphere is for women and the public sphere is for men, still remain. On the other hand, there are people who are very supportive towards women’s political participation and only vote for women in elections. Gender is significant with regards to resources too. For instance, men are generally in a more privileged position vis-à-vis financial resources and education compared to women, and this hinders women’s possibilities for political participation in Zambia.