Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although there has been a shift from state security to human security, feminist scholars pointed out the missing gender dynamic of a human security approach. The inclusion of a gendered lens has allowed for peacekeeping to come under scrutiny on how it affects the human security of the host society. Due to increased allegations of sexual exploitation of locals by male peacekeepers, the UN and scholars alike have advocated the increasing recruitment of women in peacekeeping operations, claiming that they have a number of unique contributions which improve the operational effectiveness of a peacekeeping unit and the human security of vulnerable populations. Broadly, the unique contributions women make to peacekeeping is: 1. They have a calming effect on men which decreases violence by peacekeepers; 2. Women are more inclined to interact with locals; 3. They are better respondents to victims of sexual violence; and 4. Women are inspirational to local women. However, women have faced a number of challenges which inhibit them from fulfilling these unique contributions. This project contributes to this line of inquiry and, by conducting focus group discussions with women soldiers in the 9 South Africa Infantry (9 SAI) base, this study provides further understanding on the challenges women peacekeepers face in realizing their value to peacekeeping missions. The evidence presented in this article suggests that even though women can have a positive impact on the operational effectiveness of a unit, the broadly advocated unique contributions of women peacekeepers presents a false holism of women in the military. In the South African case, patriarchal beliefs define gender perceptions and create a self-perception amongst women which inhibit them from realizing their contributions to peacekeeping missions beyond patriarchal lines. Furthermore, the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) liberal feminist approach to recruiting women in the military is based on gender equality, which has come at the expense of valuing gender difference. Considering the South African case, and more broadly, the hegemonic masculine culture of military institutions allows for the creation of a soldier identity which only features masculine qualities. Therefore, both men and women do not value feminine qualities which are useful and needed in peacekeeping operations. In the end, women dilute their femininity to fit into this male domain, defeating the point of adding more women to peacekeeping operations for their feminine qualities. This study shows that, ultimately, the correlation between recruiting more women and improving the human security of vulnerable citizens is hazy. Depending on the context in which peacekeepers are deployed, women peacekeepers may exacerbate the insecurity of the locals, the unit, and themselves. To overcome these challenges, this paper advocates the creation of a new soldier identity which should be championed by the SANDF. Furthermore, gender training should be done on a regular basis. In addition, recruitment processes should especially target women and emphasize the value they may add to the military and peacekeeping operations. Finally, ongoing challenges difficult to overcome are the deeply entrenched patriarchal beliefs in the South African society, and the hegemonic masculine culture of the SANDF. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel daar ʼn verskuiwing in fokus vanaf staatsveiligheid na menslike veiligheid plaasgevind het, lewer feministiese teorie steeds kritiek op menslike veiligheid omdat dit faal om ʼn geslagsaspek in ag te neem. Die insluiting van ʼn geslagsaspek het veroorsaak dat navorsing oor die maniere waarop ʼn vredesoperasie die menslikesekuriteit van die plaaslike bevolking beïnvloed gedoen word. As gevolg van toenemende bewerings van seksuele uitbuiting van plaaslike inwoners deur manlike vredebewaarders het beide die VN en ander geleerdes aanbeveel dat meer vroue gewerf moet word vir deelname aan vredesoperasies. Hul beweer dat vroulike vredesmagsoldate ʼn aantal unieke bydraes kan maak tot die effektiwiteit van vredesmageenhede, asook die menslike sekuriteit van kwesbare bevolkings. Die unieke bydrae wat vroue kan maak tot vredesendings sluit die volgende in: 1. Hulle het ʼn kalmerende effek op mans wat dus lei tot minder geweld deur manlike vredesmagsoldate; 2. Groter kommunikasie met die plaaslike bevolking; 3. Groter bevoegdheid om vroulike slagoffers van seksuele geweld te ondersteun; en 4. Inspirasie vir die plaaslike vroue. Alhoewel vroue hierdie unieke bydra kan maak, is daar ʼn aantal uitdagings wat hul in die gesig staar en dus verhoed om hierdie unieke bydrae te kan maak. Hierdie studie maak ʼn bydrae tot hierdie rigting van ondersoek, deur gebruik te maak van fokusgroepbesprekings met vroulike soldate van die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag om verdere begrip vir die uitdagings wat vroue vredesmagsoldate ondervind te kweek. Die studie dui aan dat alhoewel vroue ʼn bydrae kan maak tot die operasionele doeltreffendheid van vredesoperasies, kan hierdie unieke bydrae nie aan alle vroue toegeskryf word nie. Hierdie studie toon dat patriargie in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks ʼn groot uitdaging vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Weermag (SANW) is omdat dit persepsies van geslag skep wat vroue verhinder om hul unieke bydrae tot vredesoperasies te realiseer. Verder, het die SANW se liberale feministiese benadering tot die werwing van vroue in die weermag gebaseer op geslagsgelykheid, gerealiseer ten koste van geslagsverskille wat waardeer moet word. In die geval van Suid-Afrika, asook militêre instellings in die algemeen, is daar ʼn hegemoniese manlike kultuur wat voorsiening maak vir die skepping van 'n soldaatsidentiteit wat net manlike eienskappe reflekteer. Dit is dus die rede waarom manlike en vroulike soldate nie waarde heg aan vroulike eienskappe nie, alhoewel hierdie eienskappe nuttig is in vredesoperasies. Op die ou einde is die toevoeging van vroue tot die weermag as gevolg van hul vroulike eienskappe onnuttig, aangesien hul hierdie eienskappe ‘opgee‘ om in te pas by die manlike kultuur van die SANW. Hierdie studie trek die stelling dat meer vroue in vredesoperasies tot die verbetering van menslikeveiligheid lei in twyfel. In teendeel, afhangende van die konteks waarin vredesmagte ontplooi word, kan vroulike vredesmagsoldate die menslike sekuriteit van die plaaslike bevolking, die vredeseenheid, en hulself in gedrang plaas. Om hierdie uitdagings die hoof te bied, stel hierdie studie voor dat die SANW ʼn nuwe soldaatsidentiteit wat manlike en vroulike eienskappe insluit, skep en bevorder. Geslagsopleiding moet ook op 'n gereelde basis plaasvind. Daarbenewens moet die werwingsproses veral op vroue gemik word en die waarde wat hulle toevoeg tot beide die weermag en vredesoperasies beklemtoon word. Ten slotte, voortdurende uitdagings wat moeilik is om die hoof te bied sluit in: die patriargale oortuigings in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing asook die hegemoniese manlike kultuur van die SANW.

In the history of opposition to white supremacist rule in South Africa, the 1950's stand out as a period of intensive legal resistance by black political bodies on an unprecedented mass scale. Undoubtedly, for all its weaknesses and difficulties, the Congress Alliance, with the African National Congress its senior partner, was the major source of opposition faced by the apartheid state in this period. More than is generally realised, however, the 1950's were also a decade of mass political action by black women in South Africa, that section of the population which a 1956 pamphlet aptly described as "the most oppressed, suffering and downtrodden of our people". At the centre of this outburst lay the Federation of South African Women (FSAW), an organisation that was linked to the Congress Alliance. It is the history of this organisation that forms the subject matter of this thesis. Little historical work has been done on women in South Africa, politically or otherwise: for this reason, the scope of this study is broad and, in addition to material on the history and make-up of the FSAW itself, several chapters have been devoted to background developments to the establishment of the FSAW in 1954.

The period 1954 to 1958 saw an unprecedented level of mobilisation and active political campaigning by women of all races in South Africa. These campaigns were split along lines of race and class, as evidenced in the demonstrations against the extension of pass laws to African women by the Federation of South African Women [FSAW] and the campaign against the Senate Bill by liberal white women of the Black Sash. What they had in common is that both groups of women organised their action into separate structures exclusive to women, with independent identities from the male-dominated structures of the Congress Alliance and of white party politics. This separate organisation from men was not carried out with an explicit feminist agenda or a developed awareness of women's oppression, however. Nevertheless, their existence constituted a challenge to the dominant patriarchal discourse that constructed women's role as domestic and exclusive to the private sphere. Newspaper representations of the two organisations by both their political allies and their political opponents, provide evidence of this dominant discourse on "women's place" and insight on the public perception of political activity by women at the time. Within the texts of FSAW and the Black Sash one finds tensions between accepted notions of women's primary role as wives and mothers, and an emerging self-conception of women as politically active in the public realm. To an extent, the self-representation of these texts mirrors the patriarchal representations of women found in the newspaper reports. However, there are also definite departures from the traditional formulations of womanhood that can be conceived of as "contestations" to the dominant discourse. The patriarchal discourse was, therefore, a discursive constraint, both external and internalised, on women's ability to become active and effective in South Africa politics in the 1950s. Paradoxically, through the practical process of women's mobilisation in FSAW and the Black Sash, new space was opened on the political terrain that allowed for the alteration of the dominent discourse on women's place in society, as well as for the emergence of contestatory feminist discourses in South Africa.

The study investigates the role of women in development which is a favourite topic of the researcher. It investigates some aspects of the process of development involving women. It is obvious that the research was provoked by the legal framework directed at the transformation agenda that represents the democratic process of the country. The role of women, in other sectors, who were excluded from issues of community management, politics and government of the country, became obvious for the researcher due to their strategic role in society which is being undermined. The above view poses the challenge of power-sharing with men. This constituted a huge challenge that emanated from a stereotypical perspective and the fear of the unknown. Considerable pieces of legislation, policies, convention resolutions, conferences and publications became catalysts to intervene in the traditional challenge based on the societal construction. This, to the researcher, presents a clear historical anomaly where government has to address all the streamlining and implementation of policies. There should be sustainability through an Integrated Development Plan. The aim of the historical background of women, as envisaged by the study, is to highlight a contextualised role of women in the development of the transformation process and investigate numerous reasons that impede participation and the readiness of government in addressing these issues. Some questions that the researcher had to as relate to; What the impediments causing non-participation of women are; What elements contribute to the participation of women; What government strategies have unlocked non-participation of women; Why women’s contribution is critical to development; What strategies are deployed by government for women’s involvement? What the socio-economic benefits of participation by women are. It is the researcher’s opinion that the municipality should be complimented on its endeavours. However, they need to establish a strategic programme for empowering women to participate in development as a human rights issue.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Developmental initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa emphasise participatory citizenship as the means through which poor women can assert and claim their citizenship rights. Although citizenship and agency are crucial elements in this narrative, little is known about the citizenship process for African women. Furthermore, there is no analytic framework to guide an empirical analysis of agency. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by examining how marginalised Black African women understand themselves as citizens, navigate their structural barriers and develop strategies to negotiate their membership in and relationship with their states. This dissertation uses a deviant case analysis of women living in Zimbabwean and South African townships, who identify as members of the isiNdebele and isiZulu ethnic groups respectively, to Western theories of agency. Data was collected through the use of in-depth interviews and analysed using content and relational analysis. Results indicate that the women use a range of everyday resistance strategies to negotiate their relationship with their states. These strategies are mapped onto an innovative analytic framework that synthesizes feminist, androcentric and subaltern theories of citizenship agency, in order to highlight the non-conventional ways that marginalised African women exercise their agency as citizens. Interestingly, both sets of women emphasise the obligation to vote, work and support oneself without recourse to the state, rather than a reciprocal and participatory relationship. The internalisation of citizenship as an obligation without a corollary emphasis on rights and participation is problematic given that both governments suffer from legitimacy, corruption and governance issues. The main policy implication arising from the study is that there is a need for civic education in schools as well as a feature of women‟s empowerment and community development programs so that marginalised African women are encouraged to expand their participatory skills to collectively challenge, contest and improve the substance of existing citizenship rights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ontwikkelinginisiatiewe in Afrika beklemtoon deelnemende burgerskap as ʼn manier hoe arm vroue hul regte kan eis. Hoewel burgerskap en die agentskap (agency) belangrik in hierdie verhaal is, weet ons baie min oor hoe swart vroue burgerskap ervaar. Verder is daar geen analitiese raamwerk om 'n empiriese ontleding van hul agentskap te lei nie. Die proefskrif spreek hierdie gapings aan deur ʼn ondersoek oor hoe arm swart vroue in Afrika hulself as burgers verstaan, hoe hul strukturele hindernisse navigeer en strategieë ontwikkel om hul lidmaatskap van en verhouding tot die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie proefskrif gebruik ʼn vergelykende gevallestudie benadering wat vroue wat in Zimbabwe en Suid-Afrika in “townships” woon en wat hulself as isiNdebele en isiZulu identifiseer na te vors. Data is verkry deur die gebruik van in-diepte onderhoude, inhouds- en verwantskapsanalise. Die resultate dui aan dat vroue ʼn reeks strategieë gebruik vir “daaglikse weerstand” om hul verhouding met die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie strategieë word gekarteer op die innoverende analitiese raamwerk, wat ʼn sintese is van feministiese, androsentriese en subalterne teorieë van burgerskap, om sodoende die nie-konvensionele maniere waarop swart vroue hul agentskap uitoefen te beklemtoon. Beide groepe vroue beklemtoon die verpligting om te stem, werk en om jouself te onderhou sonder hulp van die staat, eerder as om ʼn wederkerige en deelnemende verhouding met die staat te beoefen. Die internalisering van burgerskap as ʼn verpligting sonder die wederkerige nadruk op regte en deelname is problematies. Dit kan gekoppel word aan die feit dat albei regerings gebuk gaan onder legitimiteitsprobleme, korrupsie en probleme rondom regeerkunde, wat vrae genereer oor hoe om hierdie regerings verantwoordbaar te hou. Die hoof beleidsimplikasie van hierdie studie is die daarstelling van burgerlike onderwys in skole, sowel as vroue se bemagtiging in ontwikkelingsprogramme. Dit sal bydra daartoe dat gemarginaliseerde swart vroue aangemoedig word om hul vaardighede rondom deelname te ontwikkel en die substansie van hul bestaande burgerskap kollektief uit te daag en te verbeter.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Feminist international relations theories stress that global solutions to environmental, social and economic dilemmas will not be accurately diagnosed nor corrected until hierarchal social relations, including gender relations, intrinsic to the global economic and political framework are recognized and altered. How does a feminist interpretation of international relations aid in the adoption of global taxes to benefit women? This study explores the ways a mechanism such as global taxation could be utilized to create a more equitable global political economy. The study is exploratory making use of a qualitative methodology employing secondary data from industries such as tourism, toy production, and textiles. Feminist perspectives on environmental, social, and economic security, rational actor behavior and collectivism facilitate the dialogue which is essential for global tax implementation. The adoption of global taxes has the capability to better the lived experiences of women globally by minimizing poverty and strengthening the working conditions of women worldwide. Proposed carbon taxes and global commons taxes work to redefine environmental security by placing appropriate price indicators on the use of globally used resources. Proposed email taxes, world trade taxes, and currency exchange fee taxes grant the fiscal resources necessary to create greater economic and social security. Chapter One is an analysis of the global political economy. Chapter Two explains the controversial and progressive idea of a global tax administered by the United Nations to deal with the inequity of globalization. Chapter Three focuses on the linkages between the introduction of a global tax and the feminist perspective on the global political economy. Chapter Four summarizes the structural inadequacies of the current economic framework to address the economic and social grievances that global taxes combat. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Feministiese teorieë oor internasionale verhoudinge benadruk die feit dat wêreldwye oplossings vir omgewings-, maatskaplike en ekonomiese probleme nóg akkuraat gediagnoseer nóg reggestel kan word tensy hiërargiese sosiale verhoudinge (waaronder genderverhoudinge), wat onlosmaaklik deel van die wêreldwye ekonomiese en politieke raamwerk is, as sulks erken en verander word. Hoe dra die feministiese interpretasie van internasionale verhoudinge by tot die instelling van wêreldwye belasting wat vroue tot voordeel strek? Hierdie studie ondersoek maniere waarop 'n meganisme soos wêreldwye belasting benut kan word om 'n billiker wêreldwye politieke ekonomie daar te stel. Die studie is ondersoekend van aard en maak gebruik van kwalitatiewe metodes wat sekondêre data uit bedrywe soos toerisme, speelgoedproduksie en die tekstielbedryf gebruik. Feministiese standpunte oor omgewings-, maatskaplike en ekonomiese sekuriteit, rasionele optrede en kollektivisme dra by tot dialoog wat noodsaaklik is vir die instelling van wêreldwye belasting. Danksy die instelling van wêreldwye belasting kan die lewenservaring van vroue wêreldwyd verbeter word deur armoede te beperk en werkstoestande van vroue wêreldwyd te verbeter. Die voorgestelde koolstofbelasting en wêreldmeent-belasting sal bydra tot 'n nuwe benadering in omgewingsbeveiliging deurdat toepaslike prysaanwysers aan die gebruik van wêreldwyd benutte hulpbronne gekoppel word. Die voorgestelde e-posbelasting, wêreldhandelbelasting en belasting op valutagelde sal nodige fiskale middele bied vir die daarstelling van beter ekonomiese en maatskaplike sekuriteit. Hoofstuk 1 is 'n analise van die wêreldwye politieke ekonomie. Hoofstuk 2 is 'n uiteensetting wêreldwye belasting as kontroversiële en progressiewe konsep, wat deur die Verenigde Nasies geadministreer sou word om die wanbalans in globalisasie die hoof te bied. Hoofstuk 3 handel oor die raakpunte tussen die instelling van 'n wêreldwye belasting en die feministiese beskouing van die wêreldwye politieke ekonomie. Hoofstuk 4 bied 'n oorsig oor die strukturele ontoereikendheid van die huidige ekonomiese raamwerk met betrekking tot die ekonomiese en maatskaplike griewe wat wêreldwye belasting sou bekamp.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The involvement of women in both conventional and unconventional forms of political participation in South Africa has over the past 10 years, and often at present, been experienced as problematic and limited. Exacerbating the problem of limited access and information, the study of, and literature about, women's participation in unconventional forms of politics have also been limited. It is the aim of this study to contribute to our knowledge in this area. This study investigates women's participation in unconventional politics between 1991 and 2001. This period is specifically important, as it makes possible the examination of trends in women's political participation before and after the democratic transition in 1994. This makes it possible for us to speculate about the influence of transition on women's political participation. I propose and evaluate two mam hypotheses in which I; firstly, expect women's participation in protest politics to decrease between 1991 and 2001, and secondly, expect to find women's levels of participation in protest to be consistently lower than that of their male counterparts. The complex set of variables influencing women's participation is evaluated according to the socialization and structural approaches, which offer different assumptions about the reasons for the trends in women's participation. In conclusion, I offer the main findings of my research, as well as suggesting possible areas still to be investigated within the field, as deduced from the questions arising out of my analysis in this project. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die betrokkenheid van vroue in beide konvensionele en onkonvensionele vorme van politieke deelname in Suid Afrika, was oor die laaste 10 jaar, en is steeds ervaar as problematies en beperk. Wat die probleem vererger, is die beperkte toegang tot informasie, die studie van, en literatuur oor, vroue se deelname in onkonvensionele vorme van politiek. Dit is in die strewe na die oorkoming van hierdie leemtes, dat hierdie werk aangepak word. Hierdie werk ondersoek vroue se deelname in onkonvensionele politiek tussen 1991 en 2001. Hierdie periode is spesifiek belangrik, omdat dit die demokratiese transisie na 1994 insluit, en om neigings in vroulike deelname voor en na 1994 te bestudeer. Dit maak dit moontlik om oor die invloed van die transisie op vroue se politieke deelname te spekuleer. Ek stel, en evalueer twee hoof hipoteses waarin ek; eerstens, verwag dat vroue se deelname in protes politiek sal verminder tussen 1991 en 2001, en tweedens, verwag ek om te vind dat vroue se vlakke van deelname in protes, deurentyd laer sal wees as die van mans. Die komplekse stel veranderlikes wat vroue se deelname beinvloed, word geevalueer in terme van die sosialisering- en strukturele benaderings, wat verskillende voorstelle oor die motivering van die geobserveerde neigings in vroue se deelname oplewer. Ten slotte, bied ek die hoof bevindinge van my navorsing aan, so wel as voorstelle ten opsigte van moontlike areas vir verder ondersoek binne die veld.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Political Studies))--University of the Witwatersrand, Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences, 2016 / This study comparatively interrogates the representative parliamentary politics of women political elites in the subSaharan African states of posttransition Rwanda and South Africa. It analyses the relationship between women political elites and gender equality outcomes through the theoretical framework of the presupposed positive relationship that is said to exist between high levels of women’s descriptive representation and women’s substantive representation. It specifically explores this relationship through the lens of legislative outcomes passed in each state. In South Africa, this legislation takes the form of the 1998 Recognition of Customary Marriages Act and in Rwanda, the 2008 Genderbased Violence Act. This study locates the outcomes of women’s parliamentary politics in these states to the different articulation of elite patriarchal bargains negotiated by women political elites within the opportunities and constraints of parliamentary institutional contexts and the political parties represented in these regimes. I show that the higher the degree to which a ruling political party needs to privilege and emphasise women’s interests in the reproduction of political power and legitimisation of its own authority, the more favourable the terms of the elite patriarchal bargains that women political elites tacitly negotiate within political parties will be for pursuing gender equality legislative outcomes in patriarchal institutional contexts. I illustrate how political institutions located in the state never present conclusive gains or losses for women and gender equality but are contextually ambiguous and contradictory in the ways that they foster representation and locate gendered political accountability. / WS2016

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the partial requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand Department of African Literature, March 2017 / XL2018

This thesis focuses on the Afrikaans Christian Women's Organisation (ACVV), placed within the context of Afrikaner nationalist activity, and traces the variety of ways in which white, Afrikaans, middle-class women sought to construct a racially exclusive 'Afrikaner' people. Stereotypical portrayals of Afrikaner women as passive followers of an ideology constructed by men are challenged. The gendered construction of nationalism is initially examined by tracing the transition from a religious, evangelical, late nineteenth century gender discourse to an increasingly explicit Afrikaner nationalist discourse in the early twentieth century. The ACVV participated in the construction of a popular Afrikaner nationalist culture that portrayed Afrikaans women as mothers of the people or volksmoeders. The first ACVV leaders were acutely aware of the 'New Women' who abandoned conventional notions of femininity - they tried to construct a public, political identity for Afrikaans women that met the challenges of the 'modern' world, yet remained true to Afrikaner 'tradition'. The ACVV sought to fashion Afrikaans whites into 'Afrikaners' through philanthropic activity. At first, this was especially true of rural branches, but from the early 1920s, Cape Town's ACVV also responded to the growing influx of 'poor whites' by focusing specifically on social welfare work. One particular concern was the danger that women working together with blacks posed for the volk. Research on the ACVV's philanthropy is complemented by a study of the lives of landless and impoverished whites in the Cape countryside and Cape Town. Archival material and 'life history' interviews are used to explore the working lives of white, Afrikaans-speaking women who moved from rural areas to Cape Town during the 1920s and 1930s. Complex and contradictory strands made up the private and political lives of female Afrikaner nationalists. During the 1920s, they sought to create a political role for themselves by constructing a 'maternalist', nationalist discourse that articulated the notion of separate spheres for men and women -but extended vrouesake (women's issues). In many ways these were conservative women - yet they adjusted, even challenged, conventional gender roles in Afrikaans communities. In the 1930s, the four provincial Afrikaans women's welfare organisations sought to shape state-subsidised social welfare programmes. The ACVV and its sister organisations had increasingly fraught dealings with Afrikaner nationalist men in the state and church. who did not share the women's vision of female leadership in social welfare policy.