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Active Participation, Insignificant Gains: The Elusiveness of Gender Equality for African Women in the Liberal Global Economy

Active Participation, Insignificant Gains: The Elusiveness of Gender Equality for African Women in the Liberal Global Economy Paper Presented at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, AFRICAN TRADE POLICY CENTRE, Inception Workshop on Mainstreaming Gender into Trade Policy Addis Ababa, 21- 22 April 2009 Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, Ph.D. Professor of Political Science Brooklyn College, CUNY 3413 James Hall Phone: (718) 951-5000, ext. 1742 fax: (718) 951-4833 email: mokome@brooklyn.cuny.edu mojubaolu@gmail.com By the middle of the 20th Century, following the groundbreaking work of Esther Boserup, feminist analysis began to acknowledge the active participation of African women in their countries’ economic systems as producers. However, it was quite obvious, even to Boserup that while there was no doubt about women’s participation, historically the gains from trade devolve disproportionately to men, a problem compounded by the fact that the institutions that manage the tradi