How to reestablish democracy after nazism? Where to begin with in a destroyed, occupied and divided country? On which experience rely? In 1945, a handful of trained politicians, both men and women, who had survived war and persecution, initiated the rebuilding of institutions.

the book offers a novel analysis of the gendered dynamics that permeate the forms of collective action and the way in which commitment contributes to changing gender relations in contemporary Mali. From decolonisation in 1960 to 1991 revolution, four decades of social and political struggles have shaped the country's highly non-consensual history.