Gender and location in African politics scholarship: The other white man's burden?

Abstract

While the percentage of women publishing in African Affairs and The Journal of Modern African Studies from 1993 until 2013 has increased, the percentage of articles by Africa-based authors has declined. We present evidence suggesting that this decline is not being driven by lower submission rates from Africa but rather by low and declining acceptance rates. We also find that Africa-based scholars, but not women, are systematically cited less than others. We then analyse article titles and find preliminary evidence suggesting that Africa-based authors are more likely to write on a small number of countries and less likely to generalize. Authors based outside Africa seem more likely to generalize to the continent and are more likely to write on economics or conflict. These patterns have implications for the diversity of the discipline and the state of our knowledge about Africa. ACADEMIC PUBLISHING IS, and historically has been, rife with structural inequalities. Recent examinations of these inequalities have focused most on the position of women and have shown, for example, that women are on average cited less frequently than men. We examine two decades of research in African politics and analyse how the positions of women and Africa-based scholars have changed over time. In doing so, this article answers two main questions. First, who is publishing in top African politics journals? Second, who is being cited? In answering both questions, we pay special attention to the role of gender and place in influencing one’s ability both to publish and to be cited. Our decision to examine the influence of gender and place stems from concerns about both representation in knowledge production and the quality of research on African politics. The former concern is one of equality, *Ryan Briggs (ryancbriggs@vt.edu) is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech. Ryan would like to thank Maya Berinzon, Jennifer Brass, Carl LeVan, and Laura Seay for helpful comments; Joseph Daniel and Tyler Oishi for research assistance; Ryan Powers for sharing code; and Christopher Clapham for data and reflections. Scott Weathers is a member of the class of 2015 at American University. 1. Daniel Maliniak, Ryan Powers, and Barbara F. Walter, ‘The gender citation gap in international relations’, International Organization 67, 4 (2013), pp. 889–922. African Affairs, 1–24 doi: 10.1093/afraf/adw009 © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved 1 African Affairs Advance Access published May 14, 2016