About

Looking at the global women’s movement trend in recent years, it has exponentially been influenced by the growth of digital media that transcends the resource-intensive conventional movement building and organising processes. Zooming in the African women’s movement, the digital space has been creating momentous affordances to network and mobilise for a common goal. From Ethiopia’s Yellow Movement in 2011, where female university students mobilised to create safe spaces on campuses, to South Africa’s #TotalShutDown campaign in 2018, subsequently adopted by Kenyan feminists in 2019 to protest gender-based violence, numerous movements across the continent have been leveraging digital platforms to advance their causes.

In this dynamic landscape of women's movement, the very essence of gender identity itself holds paramount significance. In the African context, the gendered identity of women is interwoven with ethnicity, religion, class, political allegiance, geographical location, and more. This requires movements to be tactful in accommodating diverse needs and constructing a collective identity that resonates with participants. Thus, this research explores the intricate process of forming collective identity within African women's movements, focusing on two case studies from Kenya and Ethiopia: Feminists in Kenya and Addis Powerhouse, both actively engaged in digital activism and grassroots outreach.

The research aims to answer how collective identity is constructed within these initiatives and how their digital media presence influences the process. It will further investigate if these intersectional collective identities indeed contribute to movement sustainability and success. Both cases present a profound opportunity as they complement each other with their contextual differences and common principles for intersectionality. This allows for a nuanced exploration of findings that can enrich our understanding of collective identity formation within African women's movements.

Ultimately, the findings aim to provide academics and activists with valuable knowledge and tools to navigate intersectionality within contemporary women’s movements.