This article studies the question of immigrant women's associations who come from sub Saharan African countries in general and in particular, sahelian countries. Studies of the evolution of associations created by immigrants show that men are the pioneers of this movement. Their associations have shown a preference for territorial development towards the countries of their origin [Daum, 1993; Gonin, 1990; Quiminal, 1991). But with the feminization of African immigration in France around the beginning of 1980s, immigrant women created their own associations and started proposing citizen action (cultural, social) to resolve the problems they face in their adopted countries. Can we say that these immigrant African women heading associations are innovators in comparison to men? In certain aspects, they appear to imitate men. But in other ways, we can consider that they are introducing some new facets. This is particularly the case with regard to the composition of their associations. In fact, contrary to men's, women's associations are made up of people from different ethnic groups, different villages or countries. The diversity of the immigrant women's profiles plus the diversity of their countries of origin is one of the reasons which explain why their strategy, their territorial action, the public they target and their institutional partnerships can be different to men's associations. An in-depth analysis of the activity of immigrant women's associations could show the new mechanism of social and spacial transformation produced by contempory migration. © Tous droits réservés.

Sub-Saharan Africa citizenship immigrant women culture Association leader Association project Sahelian Africa

Sahel [Sub-Saharan Africa] France citizenship African immigrant innovation immigration womens status Culture