Partant de la volonté de nous libérer de définitions techniques, technicistes ou produites dans la sociologiede l’appropriation sociale des usages des TIC afin de qualifier les usages de l’Internet par des organisations defemmes ou féministes en Afrique, nous avons privilégié dans cette thèse les travaux théoriques portant sur lepatriarcat et sur la colonialité du pouvoir (ensemble des relations sociales caractérisées par la subalternité –hiérarchisation entre dominants et dominés – produite par l’expansion du capitalisme). Ce parti pris nous apermis de poser un cadre d’analyse opératoire ne plaquant pas des analyses théoriques occidentales, sudaméricainesou asiatiques sur l’Afrique. Il a facilité la façon dont nous avons problématisé la relation entredomination masculine et domination liée à la colonialité de pouvoir, que nous avons nommée colonialitaire,dans un contexte de mondialisation et d’hypermodernité. Les manifestations différenciées de cette relation enAfrique du Sud et au Sénégal nous ont aidé à circonscrire le terrain et le contexte à partir desquels lesorganisations de femmes et féministes locales utilisent ou non l’Internet. La confrontation de leursreprésentations avec le cadre conceptuel est devenue informative et s’est avérée indispensable afin de qualifier lapolitisation de leurs usages. Il nous est ainsi apparu que l’Internet cristallise parmi les technologies del’information et de la communication un moyen par lequel la « société de l’information » est le produit comme laproduction d’une mondialisation hypermoderne où la colonialité du pouvoir et le patriarcat, en tant quesystèmes, s’exercent conjointement. Cette conjonction s’exprime par les biais théorique autant qu’empirique.Notamment nous avons observé que l’épistémologie utilisée dans ce cadre renoue avec des constructionstraditionnalistes, nationalistes, paternalistes et masculinistes des savoirs en écho à ce que permet cet outil :l’accélération de l’appropriation du corps des femmes, la surenchère rhétorique et politique des dominants,l’institutionnalisation des concepts, l’occidentalisation des pensées, les privatisations en tous secteurs, lesconcurrences croisées de l’Occident, l’Extrême et le Moyen-Orient sur les terrains tant économique, politiqueque socioculturel, religieux. Il est alors apparu que les inégalités de genre s’aggravent en même temps que lesidentités sexuelles à tous les niveaux (État, institutions, population) deviennent souterraines et que les rapportsdifférenciés de « race » et de classe se creusent. Fort de ce constat, nos analyses nous ont mené à réaliser que lesfemmes de « la base » se retrouvent en situation d’accentuer la prise en charge immédiate de la gestion del’urgence (augmentation de la pauvreté, des violences, diminution de l’accès aux ressources, à la santé, àl’éducation…), parfois d’accepter leur subalternité tout en la négociant auprès des dominants. Aussi, peu à peu, / With our initial intention to be liberated from the definitions — technical, technocratic or thoseemanating from the sociology of the social appropriation of ICT uses — in order to analyze the usage of theInternet in women’s and feminist organizations in Africa, we focused in this thesis on theoretical workrelating to patriarchy and the coloniality of power (totality of social relations characterized by subalternity —hierarchization between the dominants and the dominated — produced by the expansion of capitalism.) Thisposition enabled us to establish a working analytical framework without imposing Western, South Americanor Asian theoretical analyses on Africa. It also facilitated how we expressed the problematic of therelationship between male domination and the domination inherent in the coloniality of power, which wehave called “colonialtairian” in the context of globalization and hypermodernity. The differentiatedmanifestations of this relationship in South Africa and Senegal helped us delineate the field and contextwithin which local women’s or feminist organizations use or don’t use the Internet. Comparing theirrepresentations within the conceptual framework proved edifying and indispensable in determining thepoliticization of their use. It thus became apparent that among the information and communicationtechnologies, the Internet crystallizes one means by which the “Information Society” is both the product andthe production of a hypermodern globalization in which the systems of coloniality of power and patriarchyfunction conjointly. This conjunction is clearly evidenced both theoretically and empirically. Especiallynoteworthy is that the epistemology used in this context reconnects to traditionalistic, nationalistic,paternalistic and male constructions of knowledge echoing what this tool facilitates: a rapid increase of theappropriation of women’s bodies, the dominants’ rhetorical and political grandstanding, theinstitutionalization of concepts, the Westernization of thought, privatization in all sectors and criss-crossingcompetition throughout the West, the Far East and Middle East in economic, political, socio-cultural andreligious areas. It then appeared that gender inequalities worsen at the same time as sexual identities on alllevels (state, institutions, population) are buried away, while differentiated “race” and class relationshipsbecome more pronounced.

Twentieth-century scholars have extensively studied how Rousseau's domestic discourse impacted the patriarchal ideology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and contributed to women's exclusion from the public sphere. Joan Landes, Lynn Hunt, and many others, argued that the French Revolution excluded women from the public sphere and confined them to the domestic realm. Joan Landes also argued that the patriarchal discourse was a mere reflection of social reality. In The Other Enlightenment, Carla Hesse argues for the women's presence in the public sphere. One of the goals of this dissertation is to contribute to the debate by analyzing the content of the counter-discourse of selected women authors during the revolutionary era and examine how they challenged and subverted the patriarchal discourse. In the second chapter, I reconstruct the patriarchal discourse. I first examine the official (or legal) discourse in crucial works which remain absent from major modern sources: Jean Domat's Loix civiles dans leur order naturel and Louis de Héricourt's Loix eccleésiastiques de France dans leur order naturel. Then I look at how scientists like Monroe, Roussel, Lignac, Venel, and Robert used discoveries regarding woman's physiology to create a medical discourse that justifies woman's inferiority so as to confine them into the domestic/private sphere. I examine how intellectuals such as Rousseau, Diderot, Montesquieu, Coyer and Laclos, reinforced women's domesticity. In chapter 3, I examine women's participation in the early stage of the Revolution and the overt attempt by some women to claim their place in the public sphere and to challenge and subvert the oppressive patriarchal discourse through their writings. Chapter 4 focuses on Olympe de Gouges's theater and a specific example of subversion of the patriarchal discourse: I compare the father figure in Diderot's La Religieuse and de Gouges's play Le Couvent, ou les Voeux forcés. Finally chapter 5 examines women's involvement in the French Revolution after 1794 and Constance de Salm's attack on patriarchy.

This study explores the operations of Sesotho masculinity: its dominant ideas and practices and their effects on Basotho women and men and this latter‟s resistance to a gender-ethical consciousness gaining momentum in Lesotho. It challenges a deep running belief among the Basotho that being born male necessarily means being born into a superior social position and status that is naturally and divinely sanctioned. It investigates how the dominant postcolonial discourse called sekoele (a return to the traditions of the ancestors) and the Christian churches‟ discourses of the “true”/“authentic” Christian life, framed by the classical biblical and confessional dogmatic traditions, actually support and sustain this belief and so reinforce the imbalance of power in favour of men in the order of gender relations in Lesotho. On the contrary, through the principles of the contextual theologies of liberating praxis, social construction theory, a narrative approach to therapy, gender-ethical consciousness and participatory approach, the study argues that masculinity and ways of being and thinking about men are socially constructed through historical and cultural processes and practices. It is in these processes and practices that Basotho men have been and continue to be advantaged and privileged over women. This study has challenged this situation by tracing the existence of alternative, more ethical ways of being and thinking about men in those historical and cultural processes and practices; ways which are more open to women and children and their wellbeing in the everyday life interactions. In this way, the study argues for a gender-ethical consciousness, which, in particular, invites Basotho men to engage in a reflection on their participation in a culture and practices which oppress the other, especially women and children. It invites Basotho men to accountability and responsibility. In this sense a gender-ethical consciousness is understood as watershed of masculinity in Lesotho. The participation of a group of Basotho men who offered to reflect on their relationship with the dominant masculinities, demonstrates how Basotho men are struggling to transform yet they fill us with the hope that change is possible. / Humanities Social Sciences and Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

“The power of sex to dominate and the ability of power to obtain sex in order to dominate” is at the crux of the researchers’ investigation. The researcher problematizes the usage of power for the attainment of sexual favours. At the heart of this research is the question, what is at the root of the exploitation and “sexifying” of power by either the granter or the recipients of sexual favours. The researcher utilises various lenses in exploring the research problem. Such lenses include a social lens which zooms in at the social power possessed by men over women in society and a theological lens which zooms in on the domination of men over women in scripture. In an attempt to explore the subject at hand, the author explores the role of patriarchy, unequal opportunities between men and women and poverty as some of the primary proponents for those who offer themselves as sex objects to those in power. In most cases, it is women who are at the suffering end of poverty; it is also women who are forced to use their bodies for sex, this, therefore, means that women are doubly oppressed. Part of the socialised “sexual oppression” of women is the notion that women were created for marriage, work, labour and the pleasure of men. Anthropologically, men and women are the crown of creation and are worthy of dignity. It is, therefore, a necessity for women to reclaim their dignity. The researcher is aware of the complex nature of sex which varies from negative to positive experiences depending on the individual. In a society that views sex as a commodity and is permissive in its perception of sex, in a society that has a high rate of pornography, swinging and swapping. The researcher probes the “humanising” of sex so that it is not just a physical activity but an intimate act of love and affection. The principles for the above involves viewing sex as personal and relational; sex as exclusive and unique; sex as fruitful and productive; sex and selfless and sacrificial and an acknowledgement of sex as multi-dimensional. Though the writer comes from a religious background and is the Wesleyan tradition, though she converses with a faith community in Eersterust as part of her quantitative research; she does not evade confronting the reality of the bible as a document flawed with patriarchy, clothed in culture and set in a particular context. The author who is Wesleyan draws from this rich heritage and compares the times of John Wesley which were characterised by, “Champagne, dice or a neighbour’s spouse” to the South African context. She utilises the Wesleyan quadrilateral to draw these parallels. All these findings led the author to the conclusion that conversations, training, safe space and capacitating of those in power, those abusing power, those attracted to power must be held for the restoration of human dignity with particular reference to women. The church remains a powerful and efficient platform for the above. The Church can no longer evade her role in rectifying the damage caused by patriarchy as assumedly condoned by the bible. The church can no longer evader her role in the restoration of human dignity. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

In Congolese society, heterosexual marriage is a highly regarded institution that is viewed as contributing significantly to the true identities of women. In this study, I use Masenya’s terminologies, “idolization of marriage” and “marriage at all costs”, as springboards to re-read the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible in light of the experiences of Congolese women who tend to regard marriage as a norm. I have analysed and critiqued patriarchy as it has shaped the lives of biblical women (cf the Ruth character in the Hebrew Bible) as well as it continues to shape the lives of many Congolese women. Although in some sense, the Ruth character can be emulated in terms of her sense of independence, in terms of her commitment to seeking marriage at all costs though, Ruth, cannot be a helpful model to the lives of many poor Anamongo women who today trapped in poverty, continue to regard heterosexual marriage as the norm in their search for survival, security, and value. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

This study emerged from the high prevalence rate of HIV and AIDS infection among women in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has no exception to Namibia. Women have been vulnerable to HIV and AIDS let alone on sex related issues since the epidemic emerged, but not research has been done specifically to Okalongo women. The way in which women vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infection were explored by examined social and cultural identities that affect women’s sexual relations in negotiating sex and safe sex. Qualitative study on a sample of fifteen women was conducted in Okalongo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the conceptions and experiences of women in negotiating sex and safe sex with their husband and partners. Feminist theory guided the methodology and analysis of data. I assumed that gender roles andsexuality are socially constructed, shaped by religion, social, political, and economic influences and modified throughout life. Feminist theory assisted in documentary the ways in which the female’s gender and sexuality in Okalongo is shaped by cultural influences and by institutions that disadvantage female and other oppressed groups by silencing their voices. The feminist further guided the discussion of the contradicting messages about women’s sexuality and their experiences, as women complied, conformed and even colluded with their oppression. To address the issue under study, the primary analysis of data from the focus group discussion and individual interview were utilised. The following themes were the heart of analysis: Women Positionality, Normalisation and Compliance, Women Agency and Male Dominance Power, Women Perceptions of Risk, Sex Education in and out of school among Women.In this study the data suggested that women in Okalongo are more vulnerable to their lack of assertiveness, as they have difficult in developing an authoritative voice, they tend to be humble about their achievements and knowledge and to only assertively when concerned about others. The findings supported the literature that women’s vulnerability is strongly influenced and tied by broader forces present in the society. Women’s vulnerability is real and needs to be tackled for any progress to occur in the fight against AIDS. Until factors that constraints and enabling women agency to negotiate sex and safe sex acknowledged and addressed, women will continue to succumb to the HIV pandemic.

In Congolese society, heterosexual marriage is a highly regarded institution that is viewed as contributing significantly to the true identities of women. In this study, I use Masenya’s terminologies, “idolization of marriage” and “marriage at all costs”, as springboards to re-read the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible in light of the experiences of Congolese women who tend to regard marriage as a norm. I have analysed and critiqued patriarchy as it has shaped the lives of biblical women (cf the Ruth character in the Hebrew Bible) as well as it continues to shape the lives of many Congolese women. Although in some sense, the Ruth character can be emulated in terms of her sense of independence, in terms of her commitment to seeking marriage at all costs though, Ruth, cannot be a helpful model to the lives of many poor Anamongo women who today trapped in poverty, continue to regard heterosexual marriage as the norm in their search for survival, security, and value. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) war ein französischer Ethnologe und Soziologe, der von 1981 bis 2001 einen Lehrstuhl für Soziologie am Collège de France innehatte. Sein zentrales Erkenntnisinteresse richtete Bourdieu auf die Beständigkeit der sozialen Verhältnisse, deren zentralen Mechanismus er im Phänomen der symbolischen Gewalt fand. Bourdieu beschreibt dabei, wie in der sozialen Praxis über Akte des Klassifizierens Herrschafts- und Machtverhältnisse konstituiert und perpetuiert werden. Als Beispiel schlechthin für die symbolische Gewalt benennt Bourdieu die „Männliche Herrschaft“. Die Rezeption dieses Konzepts ist in der deutschsprachigen Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung bis heute jedoch eher zurückhaltend.