Mobilizing for Improvement. An Empirical Study of a Womenʹs Organization in West Point, Liberia

Liberian womenʹs movements raised international attention in mobilizing for peace during the conflict. After the war, the movement did not extinct; but the theme transformed from a peace-movement to topics of the aftermath. Women's efforts play an important role in post‐conflict Liberia; they have a strong position and impact not only on a community level, but also within the political landscape. As an example of such efforts can serve the West Point Women, a womanʹs organization in a precarious Monrovian community. This article describes their organization and extraordinary agency in a social space where the state is hardly present. It highlights under what conditions a social movement can emerge and how it articulates its claims in order to effect social change in a setting characterized by a high level of violence, especially male‐to-female violence. Comparable to many civil society organizations in Liberia, the West Point Women are also involved in the provision of certain public goods and services. However, for a number of issues, these women demand state action. The West Point Women's agency is not left unnoticed on the political level for their important impact on social change beyond the community level.