Aili Tripp, Dissertation Fellow

Aili Tripp Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 1988

Aili Mari Tripp is Professor of Political Science and Gender & Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tripp has published numerous books and articles on women’s movements in Africa and internationally, global feminism, gender and politics in Africa and globally, and on women in post-conflict African countries. Tripp has a forthcoming book with University of Cambridge Press entitled, Gender and Power in Post-Conflict Africa. She has published Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power (2010), co-authored a book with Isabel Casimiro, Joy Kwesiga and Alice Mungwa entitled African Women’s Movements: Transforming Political Landscapes (2009), and is author of Women and Politics in Uganda (2000) and Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania (1997). Tripp has edited and co-edited four other volumes. She co-edits a book series with Stanlie James on Women in Africa and the Diaspora for the University of Wisconsin Press. She served as president of the African Studies Association and vice president of the American Political Science Association and has served on numerous boards of professional academic associations. Born in the UK, Tripp has lived 15 years in Tanzania and has dual citizenship in the US and Finland. Her research is based on fieldwork in Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, Angola and DR Congo.

Reflection on the Alumnae Fellowship I received the award from the Alumnae Association in 1988 right after I had returned from carrying out fieldwork in Tanzania so it was incredibly helpful in allowing me to complete my dissertation. The dissertation eventually became a book that was published by University of California Press, entitled Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania, which launched my career. It helped me get a position as a professor in Political Science and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I have remained for 23 years. You don’t have to include this but as I recall, the best part of it was that I did not have to apply because my PhD advisor nominated me. I was not expecting it so it was a complete surprise! That is the best kind of award . . . an unexpected one