Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was a military organization dominated by black Africans. Although it is not generally associated with Indian South Africans, who form a minority in the country, there were Indian MK members. This thesis explores the way in which Indian MK members reconciled aspects of their ethnic identity with their membership of MK. It explores the experiences of two generations of members: those born between 1929 and 1944 and those born between 1960 and 1969. In particular it looks at whether they experienced tensions between their ethnic and political identities. It explores what set these Indian South Africans apart from the rest of the Indian South African community that did not join MK. It also looks at what significant differences there were between different generations of Indian MK members. The research results show that the first generation MK members believe that their MK activities were „the highest form of passive resistance‟. An explanation for this way of referring to their activities could be that this was a way of reconciling tensions between their ethnic and political identities. The first generation was also very critical of the Indian SA community. This could be because they still feel part of this community despite having a strong political consciousness that is different from most of the community. It was found that some of the features that set Indian MK members apart from other Indian South Africans were that they were not raised in very religious households and occupied a fairly low rather than „middle man‟ economic position. In addition, members of the first generation of MK members were raised in comparatively multi-racial areas. Both generations made the decision to join MK because of Indian role models. There were some marked differences between the two generations of MK veterans. Most notably, the younger did not see their activities as in line with passive resistance and they also displayed more ambivalence about their ethnic identities.

Ruth First was an activist, journalist and sociologist trained by experience and credentialed by her numerous publications. Having lived most of her adult life as an intellectual and activist, First died in August 1982 at the hands of a regime and its supporters who intensely detested all these pursuits. This research project sketches the intellectual contributions made by the South African sociologist during her time at the Centre of African Studies at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. Her life like the newspaper she edited in the early 1970s was a Fighting Talk and this research project is about celebrating that life and valorising some of the life’s work that she left behind. Making use of qualitative research methods such as archiving, semi-structured interviews and contents analysis, this thesis sought to document Ruth First’s intellectual interventions while at the Centre of African Studies. Engaging with her work while she was in Mozambique and inserting her intellectual contributions, which like those of many African scholars have given way to debates from the global North, into our curriculum would perhaps be the real refutation of the assassin's bomb. This engagement is also crucial as it extends much further than the striking accolades which take the form of buildings and lectures established in her honour.

Women’s involvement in collective struggles for environmental quality has surged in recent years, as has research focusing on this phenomenon. Consistent with this research, a feminist lens is useful in revealing a model of community struggle that features women’s activities and strategies to expose environmental insult. I use a case study of community protest in Hermosillo, a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, to feature social networks as a means of politicizing the placement of a toxic waste dump six kilometers outside the city. A feminist perspective reveals these social networks to be more than a way to mobilize resources. It allow us to see the ways in which gender interacts with globalized relations of power, political ecology, and environmental policy, and to validate a creative way in which women can out-maneuver the gendered constraints to political participation. An analysis of how social networks served in this particular struggle suggests that they are an important component in the process through which women gained voice and authored oppositional discourse in contexts where these have been previously denied, and ultimately deconstructed the political authority that sanctioned the dump.

This dissertation examines the activities and texts of four groups of activists who use culture jamming as a tactic to challenge dominant ideologies as they advocate for progressive social, cultural and economic change. Culture jamming, as defined here, is a practice whereby texts critical of the status quo are created through the appropriation and/or mimicry of the aesthetics and/or language that are a part of popular, or at least widely experienced, culture. Exploring the work of the Yes Men, the Adbusters Media Foundation, the Billboard Liberation Front and the Illegal Art exhibit, I argue that through their culture jamming these activists take critical theory into practice as a part of their goal is to raise the critical consciousness of the public. Confronting the issues of globalization, consumerism, and the political economy of the media in the United States, these culture jammers aim to highlight aspects of domination and oppression in their view results primarily from the corporate control of culture and politics. Using theories of ideology and hegemony developed by Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Stuart Hall, and Raymond Williams to guide my analysis, I trace how each of these groups develop, present, and promote their critique. I steer clear of discussing the effectiveness of these culture jammers, focusing instead on the actions they take and theorizing some of the possible challenges and limitations they face in light of their own experiences. Differing requirements of cultural capital and deeper contextual information for most, if not all, of these culture jamming activities can make them especially complex forms of activism. What becomes clear is that culture jamming may be a tactic best suited to the maintenance of an activist community of people who already hold a critical position, as the jammer’s challenges to dominant culture and ideologies can be lost because of the form of the critique, or marginalized or otherwise ignored by the mainstream media. / text

O presente estudo analisa as formas como os familiares de pessoas mortas e desaparecidas durante a ditadura civil-militar no Brasil (1964-1985) se organizaram para reivindicar: 1º) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelas violações aos direitos humanos praticadas em nome do regime autoritário; 2º) a apuração das reais circunstâncias em que estas mortes e desaparecimentos ocorreram; 3º) a responsabilização dos culpados; 4º) o resgate e a preservação da memória relativa a estes fatos. Fortalecida na primeira metade da década de 1970, a luta dos familiares organizados em torno da Comissão de Familiares de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos (CFMDP) estende-se até a atualidade. Canalizadas para os Comitês Brasileiros pela Anistia (CBA’s) que surgiram a partir de 1978, suas demandas foram, entretanto, praticamente desconsideradas no momento em que o Governo Federal aprovou a Lei da Anistia, em agosto de 1979. Com o fim da luta pela Anistia, e, por consequência, com a extinção dos CBA’s, os familiares rearticularam-se, centralizando seus esforços no fortalecimento da CFMDP. Em mais de três décadas de atividades, a CFMDP vem trabalhando de forma insistente junto à sociedade na tentativa de fazer com que os crimes cometidos no período autoritário não sejam esquecidos e buscando ampliar seu apoio com vistas à construção de políticas que atendam suas demandas. O trabalho desenvolvido pela CFMDP neste sentido obteve: a) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelos crimes cometidos em nome do regime civil-militar; b) a concessão de indenizações aos familiares das vítimas fatais do aparato repressivo; c) um incremento no tocante à divulgação do tema junto à sociedade. Para aprofundar suas conquistas e formular novas políticas, que, mais efetivas, tratem do tema, a Comissão continua, no entanto, tendo que lidar com legados do autoritarismo que, tais como o bloqueio interpretativo que defende uma anistia recíproca e incentiva a impunidade e o esquecimento dos crimes cometidos pela ditadura, o rol das prerrogativas militares, a política nacional de sigilo ainda vigente e os resquícios culturais da Doutrina de Segurança Nacional, seguem limitando visivelmente a obtenção de avanços significativos no que se refere à reparação dos familiares. / This study examines the ways in which relatives of people killed or disappeared during the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985) were organized to demand: 1) recognition of liability by the Brazilian state for violations of human rights committed in the name of the authoritarian regime; 2) the investigation of actual circumstances of these deaths and disappearances occurred; 3) liability of perpetrators; 4) the rescue and preservation of the memory on these facts. Strengthened in the first half of the 1970s, the struggle of families organized around the Commission of the Families of the Dead and Disappeared Political Activists (CFDDPA) extends until present. Channeled to the Brazilian Committees for Amnesty (BCA’s) that have emerged since 1978, their demands were, however, virtually ignored at the time the Federal Government approved the Amnesty Law in August 1979. With the end of the fight for amnesty, and, consequently, with the extinction of the BCA’s, the families reorganized themselves, centering its efforts on strengthening the CFDDPA. In more than three decades of activity, CFDDPA has been working persistently to the society in an attempt to make the crimes committed during authoritarian period are not forgotten and seeking to extend their support towards the construction of policies that meet their demands. The work developed by CFDDPA in this direction has obtained: a) the recognition of the liability of the Brazilian state for crimes committed on behalf of civil-military regime, b) the granting of compensation to the families of the victims of the repressive apparatus, c) an increase in respect of the disclosure of the issue to the society. To deepen their achievements and formulate new policies, more effectives to address the issue, the Commission continues, however, having to deal with legacies of authoritarian regimes, such as the interpretative blocking that defends a mutual amnesty and incentives the impunity and forgetfulness for crimes committed by the dictatorship, the role of military prerogatives, the secrecy national policy still in force and the remnants of the cultural National Security Doctrine, still follow limiting the obtaining of significant advances with regard to compensation to the families.

O presente estudo analisa as formas como os familiares de pessoas mortas e desaparecidas durante a ditadura civil-militar no Brasil (1964-1985) se organizaram para reivindicar: 1º) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelas violações aos direitos humanos praticadas em nome do regime autoritário; 2º) a apuração das reais circunstâncias em que estas mortes e desaparecimentos ocorreram; 3º) a responsabilização dos culpados; 4º) o resgate e a preservação da memória relativa a estes fatos. Fortalecida na primeira metade da década de 1970, a luta dos familiares organizados em torno da Comissão de Familiares de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos (CFMDP) estende-se até a atualidade. Canalizadas para os Comitês Brasileiros pela Anistia (CBA’s) que surgiram a partir de 1978, suas demandas foram, entretanto, praticamente desconsideradas no momento em que o Governo Federal aprovou a Lei da Anistia, em agosto de 1979. Com o fim da luta pela Anistia, e, por consequência, com a extinção dos CBA’s, os familiares rearticularam-se, centralizando seus esforços no fortalecimento da CFMDP. Em mais de três décadas de atividades, a CFMDP vem trabalhando de forma insistente junto à sociedade na tentativa de fazer com que os crimes cometidos no período autoritário não sejam esquecidos e buscando ampliar seu apoio com vistas à construção de políticas que atendam suas demandas. O trabalho desenvolvido pela CFMDP neste sentido obteve: a) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelos crimes cometidos em nome do regime civil-militar; b) a concessão de indenizações aos familiares das vítimas fatais do aparato repressivo; c) um incremento no tocante à divulgação do tema junto à sociedade. Para aprofundar suas conquistas e formular novas políticas, que, mais efetivas, tratem do tema, a Comissão continua, no entanto, tendo que lidar com legados do autoritarismo que, tais como o bloqueio interpretativo que defende uma anistia recíproca e incentiva a impunidade e o esquecimento dos crimes cometidos pela ditadura, o rol das prerrogativas militares, a política nacional de sigilo ainda vigente e os resquícios culturais da Doutrina de Segurança Nacional, seguem limitando visivelmente a obtenção de avanços significativos no que se refere à reparação dos familiares. / This study examines the ways in which relatives of people killed or disappeared during the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985) were organized to demand: 1) recognition of liability by the Brazilian state for violations of human rights committed in the name of the authoritarian regime; 2) the investigation of actual circumstances of these deaths and disappearances occurred; 3) liability of perpetrators; 4) the rescue and preservation of the memory on these facts. Strengthened in the first half of the 1970s, the struggle of families organized around the Commission of the Families of the Dead and Disappeared Political Activists (CFDDPA) extends until present. Channeled to the Brazilian Committees for Amnesty (BCA’s) that have emerged since 1978, their demands were, however, virtually ignored at the time the Federal Government approved the Amnesty Law in August 1979. With the end of the fight for amnesty, and, consequently, with the extinction of the BCA’s, the families reorganized themselves, centering its efforts on strengthening the CFDDPA. In more than three decades of activity, CFDDPA has been working persistently to the society in an attempt to make the crimes committed during authoritarian period are not forgotten and seeking to extend their support towards the construction of policies that meet their demands. The work developed by CFDDPA in this direction has obtained: a) the recognition of the liability of the Brazilian state for crimes committed on behalf of civil-military regime, b) the granting of compensation to the families of the victims of the repressive apparatus, c) an increase in respect of the disclosure of the issue to the society. To deepen their achievements and formulate new policies, more effectives to address the issue, the Commission continues, however, having to deal with legacies of authoritarian regimes, such as the interpretative blocking that defends a mutual amnesty and incentives the impunity and forgetfulness for crimes committed by the dictatorship, the role of military prerogatives, the secrecy national policy still in force and the remnants of the cultural National Security Doctrine, still follow limiting the obtaining of significant advances with regard to compensation to the families.

O presente estudo analisa as formas como os familiares de pessoas mortas e desaparecidas durante a ditadura civil-militar no Brasil (1964-1985) se organizaram para reivindicar: 1º) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelas violações aos direitos humanos praticadas em nome do regime autoritário; 2º) a apuração das reais circunstâncias em que estas mortes e desaparecimentos ocorreram; 3º) a responsabilização dos culpados; 4º) o resgate e a preservação da memória relativa a estes fatos. Fortalecida na primeira metade da década de 1970, a luta dos familiares organizados em torno da Comissão de Familiares de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos (CFMDP) estende-se até a atualidade. Canalizadas para os Comitês Brasileiros pela Anistia (CBA’s) que surgiram a partir de 1978, suas demandas foram, entretanto, praticamente desconsideradas no momento em que o Governo Federal aprovou a Lei da Anistia, em agosto de 1979. Com o fim da luta pela Anistia, e, por consequência, com a extinção dos CBA’s, os familiares rearticularam-se, centralizando seus esforços no fortalecimento da CFMDP. Em mais de três décadas de atividades, a CFMDP vem trabalhando de forma insistente junto à sociedade na tentativa de fazer com que os crimes cometidos no período autoritário não sejam esquecidos e buscando ampliar seu apoio com vistas à construção de políticas que atendam suas demandas. O trabalho desenvolvido pela CFMDP neste sentido obteve: a) o reconhecimento da responsabilidade do Estado brasileiro pelos crimes cometidos em nome do regime civil-militar; b) a concessão de indenizações aos familiares das vítimas fatais do aparato repressivo; c) um incremento no tocante à divulgação do tema junto à sociedade. Para aprofundar suas conquistas e formular novas políticas, que, mais efetivas, tratem do tema, a Comissão continua, no entanto, tendo que lidar com legados do autoritarismo que, tais como o bloqueio interpretativo que defende uma anistia recíproca e incentiva a impunidade e o esquecimento dos crimes cometidos pela ditadura, o rol das prerrogativas militares, a política nacional de sigilo ainda vigente e os resquícios culturais da Doutrina de Segurança Nacional, seguem limitando visivelmente a obtenção de avanços significativos no que se refere à reparação dos familiares. / This study examines the ways in which relatives of people killed or disappeared during the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985) were organized to demand: 1) recognition of liability by the Brazilian state for violations of human rights committed in the name of the authoritarian regime; 2) the investigation of actual circumstances of these deaths and disappearances occurred; 3) liability of perpetrators; 4) the rescue and preservation of the memory on these facts. Strengthened in the first half of the 1970s, the struggle of families organized around the Commission of the Families of the Dead and Disappeared Political Activists (CFDDPA) extends until present. Channeled to the Brazilian Committees for Amnesty (BCA’s) that have emerged since 1978, their demands were, however, virtually ignored at the time the Federal Government approved the Amnesty Law in August 1979. With the end of the fight for amnesty, and, consequently, with the extinction of the BCA’s, the families reorganized themselves, centering its efforts on strengthening the CFDDPA. In more than three decades of activity, CFDDPA has been working persistently to the society in an attempt to make the crimes committed during authoritarian period are not forgotten and seeking to extend their support towards the construction of policies that meet their demands. The work developed by CFDDPA in this direction has obtained: a) the recognition of the liability of the Brazilian state for crimes committed on behalf of civil-military regime, b) the granting of compensation to the families of the victims of the repressive apparatus, c) an increase in respect of the disclosure of the issue to the society. To deepen their achievements and formulate new policies, more effectives to address the issue, the Commission continues, however, having to deal with legacies of authoritarian regimes, such as the interpretative blocking that defends a mutual amnesty and incentives the impunity and forgetfulness for crimes committed by the dictatorship, the role of military prerogatives, the secrecy national policy still in force and the remnants of the cultural National Security Doctrine, still follow limiting the obtaining of significant advances with regard to compensation to the families.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The original contribution of this thesis is the examination of the official construction of a post-apartheid foundation myth through the analysis of the dead body politics of five iconic South African women that spans the three presidencies that have defined South Africa’s democratic era. This thesis examines the death and funeral of Albertina Sisulu, the return and burial of Sara Baartman, and the commemoration of Charlotte Maxeke, Lilian Ngoyi, and Helen Joseph. Sisulu, Baartman, Maxeke, Ngoyi, and Joseph have been constructed as heroines and as foundational figures for the post-apartheid nation in official rhetoric. It will contend that the dead body politics of these women not only informs a new foundational mythology, but also features in the processes of regime legitimation when the ANC-dominated government faces strong societal criticism. Although such official expressions of nationalism may appear exhausted, this thesis will show that nationalism remains a powerful and dangerous force in South Africa that attempts to silence opposition and critical analysis of perceived failing government policies or inaction. This thesis will indicate that as women’s bodies and legacies are appropriated for nationalist projects they are subsumed in discourses of domestic femininity in official rhetoric that dangerously detract from women’s democratic rights and their ability to exercise responsible and productive citizenship in the post-apartheid state. It will argue that women’s historic political activism is contained within the meta-narrative of ‘The Struggle’ and that women are re-subsumed into the patriarchal discourses of the past that are inherited in the present. This thesis approaches this topic by considering a top-to-bottom construction of post-apartheid nationalism through applying feminist critical discourse analysis to official rhetoric articulated at the public mourning and commemorative rituals of these five women.

This dissertation examines interactions and circuits of exchange between Anglophone and Hispanophone literary cultures in the wake of the Mexican-American War, particularly those involving African-American, Indigenous, Latin American, and proto Latina/o-American communities. My dissertation grapples with the breadth of multilingual Americas, examining the stakes of U.S. territorial expansion and empire through a range of translations, adaptations, and literary borrowings that enabled the transit and transmutation of texts in the mid-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. I focus on works by a range of writers, poets, activists, politicians, and translators, including Carlos Morla Vicuña, John Rollin Ridge, Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, José Martí, Helen Hunt Jackson, Martin Delany, and Willa Cather. I draw upon letters, periodicals, novels, and poems that circulated in the Americas, arguing that choices and practices of translation were in dialogue with shifting frameworks of race and ethnicity in these different contexts. My analysis of these textual forms depicts some of the distinct ways that authors employed translation as a mode of political activism. Ultimately, this dissertation examines the relation between translation and national belonging in these different contexts, unveiling the varied forms by which transgressive translation strategies were harnessed as forms of anti-imperialist work even as they often initiated or replicated neocolonial and imperialist practices.