P-33 Women and Cyclical Contentious Politics in Madagascar

The purpose of this research is to analyze and create a typology of women’s involvement in contentious politics. There is a gap regarding this issue in the literature because most studies within sociology and the gender and politics literatures have significantly focused on the experiences in North America, Western Europe, and some developing countries. However, in developing countries that tend to be less democratic, many women participate in protest movements. They participate as citizens and activists, side-by-side with men, not necessarily with a women’s rights agenda. I chose a stylized approach and explaining-outcome process tracing method to conduct the analysis using Madagascar as a case study. Madagascar has experienced six major political crises since its independence in 1960. Malagasy women who are political activists have been significantly involved in these events. Through this case study, I am striving to focus more on the contextualization of women’s political activism instead of generating a broad theory generalization. A case study will provide an in-depth and multi-faced understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context because women’s collective actions can have the potential to generate positive changes that have far-reaching consequences for the society.