Women, Protest and Democracy:Analysing the Role of Women in Nonviolent Resistance Movements and Democratisation

Sammanfattning: This study aims to shed light on the gendered dynamics of nonviolent resistance and democratisation. Illuminating the role that women can play in the democratisation processes can help underline the importance of women's empowerment.  Therefore, this study aims to answer the research question How can female participation in nonviolent resistance movements lead to a higher likelihood of successful democratisation? I theorise that nonviolent resistance movements enable 1) the elevation of pro-democratic female leaders, and 2) the development of political skills and networks of female participants and women’s organisations. These two factors allow women and women’s groups to continue mobilisation and fight for the institutionalisation of egalitarian democratic norms, which influences democratisation. Using the methods of structured, focused comparison and process tracing, the hypotheses were tested on Brazil’s 1984 Diretas Já Movement and the Philippines' 1986 People Power Revolution. This study found no support for the elevated leader argument, but some support for the development of political skills and networks influencing democratic outcomes. Extra research is warranted to confirm this correlation.