Women and Leadership in West Africa: Mothering the Nation and Humanizing the State

Women and Leadership in West Africaoffers an insightful exploration of the factors that give rise to different types of female leadership in West Africa. It does so through an in-depth look at the Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which have all directly or indirectly experienced civil wars over a decade long. Filomina Chioma Steady presents a compelling indigenous theoretical framework for understanding female leadership. It offers an alternative to male-dominated and politically-inspired authoritarian and war-prone leadership and also provides a powerful narrative for humanizing the state.