Since the Senegalese local elections in 1996, women have increasingly entered the local political arena in rural councils and municipalities. This book addresses the question of how women act politically, what interests they defend and how they influence resource allocation. The author argues that structural changes have opened space for resourceful women to enter local politics. However women's mobilisation does not radically break with the clientelist and factional dynamics of Senegalese politics. Women leaders often start their career in party politics as result of co-optation by male political leaders, but they do not continue as passive objects of male manipulation. Senegalese female politicians demonstrate that they are capable of taking up political positions using the local women's groups and the Women's Federation as political backyard and support. They create networks that can be activated, where services are exchanged and political strategies take shape., but the existing political culture does not change radically because women enter the scene.

Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Africa's Informal Workers explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household 'coping strategies' and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal 'workers' make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade.Africa's Informal Workers is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social transformations.

Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, "Africa's Informal Workers" explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household 'coping strategies' and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal 'workers' make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade."Africa's Informal Workers" is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social transformations.