2021-2022 Faculty Research Grant

Joel Raveloharimisy (Behavioral Sciences)

Women-Led Organizations Political Activism and COVID-19 Politics in Madagascar.

This research explores strategies that political organizations led by women used in political mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. There may be little, if any, prior research on this topic despite significant general scholarship on gender participation in politics (e.g., Chenoweth and Stephan 2011, Tarrow 1994).
This research is very important because the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt political processes around the world. It has presented both challenges as well as opportunities for political participation especially for women in politics. The research will help us understand the factors that influence the outcomes of women led organizations as they confront gender blind policies implemented by the government to address COVID-19. The policies responses often fail to consider how gender, epidemics, and democratic processes interact (UN 2021).
I chose a stylized and explaining process-tracing method to conduct the analysis using Madagascar as a case study. I am striving to focus more on the contextualization of the strategies adopted by women’s organizations rather than generating a broad theory. A case study will provide an in-depth and multi-faced understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context. For this purpose, women’s organizations can have the potential to generate positive changes that have far-reaching consequences for society.