Abstract
In Africa, legal and political approaches to the inculcation of human rights fail to improve societal status for women because they do not sufficiently account for long-standing regional traditions. This is Ludovic Lado’s contention. He argues that modernity in Africa is a Western imposition that overlooks important religious traditions and customs. He does so by analyzing gender reform laws introduced in Ivory Coast and the response of the country’s citizens. In 2013, a bill passed in parliament that reformed the family code, giving husbands and wives joint leadership of the household and the wives the right to choose their own employment. The resulting law was widely considered to be imposed by the ruling party and its international partners, rather than representing the will of citizens. L.’s qualitative research among Christian and Muslim men and women in Abidjan concludes that there is broad support for the technologies, scientific advancements, and greater individual freedoms of modernity, but its moral benefits were questioned, particularly in regard to the family code. Most participants thought men and women had equal but complementary roles. They understood marriage as a social contract between families, rather than individuals. They were suspicious of outside influences that appeared to be forcing unnecessary change. L. compares the legislative approach of Ivory Coast’s secular state with that of Mali, Senegal, and Niger. In these majority-Muslim countries gender reform is slower but, he argues, more likely to take hold because of the consultative process with conservative religious institutions.
This slim volume provides a helpful case study with which to consider alternative feminisms, the morality of universalist rights claims, and their effective implementation. The discussion sometimes lacks precision in the use of key phrases; for example “hegemonic modernities” (115), or “religion’s power” (93). “Secularization” is introduced only in the conclusion. Further discussion on women’s responses on gender reform may have allowed a scrutiny of power dynamics beyond the assertion that the modern state seeks to control customary religious authorities that, in turn, maintain a strong influence on society. Yet, the book remains a welcome contribution to an important topic.