Slave trades, kinship structures and women’s political participation in Africa

Kyklos • Vol/Iss. 77(3) • Wiley • • Published In • Pages: 734-758 •
By Walters, Leoné, Chisadza, Carolyn, Clance, Matthew

Abstract

From 1600 to 1900, the ratio of men to women enslaved and exported in the African slave trade was roughly 181:100 – in other words, nearly two men were enslaved for every woman. It has long been theorized that this historical disparity continues to affect Africa’s cultural and political systems. In this article, the authors examine the impact of temporary gender imbalances caused by the slave trade on female political participation in modern African nation-states. They find that female political participation (measured using national voting records from 2011–2018) is higher in parts of Africa that lost a greater number of individuals to the slave trade, but only among non-patrilineal ethnic groups.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)Researchers' OwnGeolocations and cultural traits for sub-Saharan ethnic region
Afrobarometer SurveyCombinationElection data from 28 sub-Saharan countries between 2011-2018, georeferenced by the researchers and assigned to discrete ethnic regions using the Ethnographic Atlas
Nunn & Wantchekon Enslavement Statistics, 1400-1900Other Researchers'Number of individuals enslaved across Africa by ethnic region

Hypotheses (5)

HypothesisSupported
In non-patrilineal ethnic regions, exposure of a given ethnic group to the Indian Ocean slave trade is positively correlated with contemporary political participation by women from that ethnic group in twenty-first century national elections.Supported
In non-patrilineal ethnic regions, exposure of a given ethnic group to the transatlantic slave trade is positively correlated with contemporary political participation by women from that ethnic group in twenty-first century national elections.Supported
In patrilineal ethnic regions, exposure of a given ethnic group to the Indian Ocean slave trade is not correlated with contemporary political participation by women from that ethnic group in twenty-first century national elections.Supported
In patrilineal ethnic regions, exposure of a given ethnic group to the transatlantic slave trade is not correlated with contemporary political participation by women from that ethnic group in twenty-first century national elections.Supported
The temporary gender imbalance caused by the slave trades affected the cultural norms surrounding women and gender differently in patrilineal ethnic regions compared to non-patrilineal ones.Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: seb.wanggaouette