Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Both democracy and civil society is seen to be dysfunctional in many African countries. Political leaders are not accountable to the people and citizens’ participation in the democracies is low. Particularly, women have often been neglected both within formal politics and the civil society. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate the role of the women’s movements in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. The study has focused on the relationship between the women’s movement and the state, and further addressed the extent to which the women’s movements have been able to direct the state and influence policymaking for improved women’s rights and gender equality in the respective countries. The thesis has found that the relationship between the women’s movements and the state in the three countries inhibits very different characteristics that give rise to varying degrees of success from the work of the women’s movements. Further, the relationship has been subjected to changes in accordance with the overall political developments in the three countries. In Uganda and South Africa the political transitions of the mid 1980s and early 1990s, each respectively represented a period of good connection and communication between the women’s movements and the state. The women’s movements were able to present a strong voice and, thereby, were able to influence the state for the adoption of national gender machineries. After the political transitions, the relationship between the women’s movements and the state in both Uganda and South Africa has, however, become more constrained. In South Africa, the debates on women’s rights and gender equality have been moved from the terrain of the civil society and into the state, leading to a seemingly weakened voice for the women’s movement outside the state. In Uganda, the women’s movement have come to be subjected to pressure for co-optation by the government. The government does not genuinely uphold a concern for increased women’s rights and gender equality, and the women’s movement has at times been directly counteracted. Further, in Kenya, the women’s movement’s relationship with the state is characterised by competition rather than communication. The women’s movement is subjected to high degrees of repression, attempts of cooptation and silencing from the state, and the women’s movement have been effectively restricted from presenting a strong voice and influence the state to any great. The three case- studies illustrates that the political opportunity structures present at a particular time influence the extent to which women’s movements can work effectively in different contexts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Menige Afrikaland se demokrasie sowel as burgerlike samelewing word as disfunksioneel beskou. Politieke leiers doen geen verantwoording aan die mense nie, en burgers se deelname aan demokrasie is gebrekkig. Veral vroue word afgeskeep in die formele politieke sfeer én die burgerlike samelewing. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die rol van die vrouebewegings in Uganda, Suid-Afrika en Kenia te ondersoek. Die studie konsentreer op die verhouding tussen die vrouebeweging en die staat, en handel voorts oor die mate waarin die verskillende vrouebewegings die staat kan lei en beleidbepaling kan beïnvloed om beter vroueregte en gendergelykheid in die onderskeie lande teweeg te bring. Die tesis bevind dat die verhouding tussen die vrouebewegings en die staat in die drie lande onder beskouing baie uiteenlopende kenmerke toon, wat wisselende grade van sukses in die vrouebewegings se werk tot gevolg het. Voorts verander dié verhouding namate die oorkoepelende politieke bestel in die drie lande verander. Uganda en Suid-Afrika se politieke oorgange in die middeltagtiger- en vroeë negentigerjare onderskeidelik het ʼn tydperk van goeie bande en kommunikasie tussen die vrouebewegings en die staat verteenwoordig. Die vrouebewegings se stem het groot gewig gehad en kon dus die staat beïnvloed om nasionale beleid en werkswyses met betrekking tot gender in te stel. Ná die onderskeie politieke oorgange is die verhouding tussen die vrouebeweging en die staat in sowel Uganda as Suid-Afrika egter aansienlik ingeperk. In Suid-Afrika het die debat oor vroueregte en gendergelykheid van die gebied van die burgerlike samelewing na die staat verskuif, wat die vrouebeweging se stem buite die staat aansienlik verswak het. In Uganda is die vrouebeweging weer onderwerp aan druk van koöpsie deur die regering. Die regering blyk nie werklik besorg te wees oor beter vroueregte en gendergelykheid nie, en die vrouebeweging word by tye direk teengewerk. Daarbenewens word die Keniaanse vrouebeweging se verhouding met die staat gekenmerk deur kompetisie eerder as kommunikasie. Die vrouebeweging het te kampe met heelwat onderdrukking en koöpsie- en muilbandpogings van die staat, en word in effek daarvan weerhou om hul menings te lug en die staat in enige beduidende mate te beïnvloed met die oog op groter doelgerigtheid en beter beleidbepaling wat vroueregte en gendergelykheid betref. Die drie gevallestudies toon dat die politieke geleentheidstrukture op ʼn bepaalde tydstip ʼn uitwerking het op die mate waarin vrouebewegings doeltreffend in verskillende kontekste kan funksioneer.

À la fin du 19ème siècle s'organise progressivement en Belgique un vaste mouvement de lutte contre la mortalité infantile. Des médecins et des femmes philanthropes créent des oeuvres, les consultations de nourrissons, qui visent à apprendre aux mères à soigner leurs enfants suivant les nouveaux préceptes de l'hygiène. Durant la Première Guerre mondiale, elles connaissent un formidable essor et finissent par couvrir le pays. Après la guerre, le principe de la protection sanitaire du jeune enfant est inscrit dans la loi et un organisme est spécialement créé à cet effet : l'Oeuvre nationale de l'enfance (ONE). L'ONE, qui dépend directement du Gouvernement, contrôle et finance durant l'entre-deux-guerres plus d'un millier d'oeuvres de l'enfance. À la veille de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, près de la moité des enfants âgés de moins d'un an, accompagnés de leur mère, y sont suivis de manière plus ou moins prolongée. Ces oeuvres participent à un vaste mouvement d'éducation maternelle et d'assignation des femmes à la sphère reproductive et domestique, tout en favorisant la médicalisation de la grossesse et de l'accouchement. Cette thèse étudie le mouvement de protection sanitaire du jeune enfant et la médicalisation de la maternité dans une perspective de genre. À travers une analyse des discours de ses promoteurs et des principes d'organisation des oeuvres, elle montre combien les enjeux politiques, sociaux, démographiques et sexués ont durablement influencé l'organisation de la protection infantile et maternelle. Elle apporte de nouvelles réflexions sur la dimension sociale de l'éducation maternelle. Elle met par ailleurs en exergue le rôle essentiel joué par les femmes, aux côtés des médecins, dans la gestion des oeuvres de l'enfance et analyse le statut et les relations de pouvoir qui se sont tissées entre les médecins, les dames patronnesses, les travailleuses sociales et les représentants de l'État. Les investissements sociaux féminins sont analysés sous l'angle de leur autonomie, de leur visibilité et de leur portée émancipatrice. Ce faisant, cette thèse montre de quelle manière les œuvres de l'enfance ont favorisé, de manière assez paradoxale, une transgression des modèles sexués en favorisant un questionnement sur la condition maternelle et l'intervention des femmes dans la sphère publique et politique.

Gender Medizin ist eine Disziplin der Humanmedizin, die den Einfluss von biologischem (Sex) und psychosozialem Geschlecht (Gender) gemäß dem bio-psycho-sozialen Modell von Gesundheit und Krankheit berücksichtigt. Ziel ist es, die Lebensqualität über die gesamte Lebensspanne zu erhalten und eine optimale medizinische Versorgung aller Geschlechter zu ermöglichen. Geschichtliche Grundlagen waren die Frauenbewegung der 1960er Jahre und die daraus entstandene Frauen- und Männergesundheitsforschung.

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A segunda onda do Movimento Feminista no Brasil emergiu em um contexto de combate à Ditadura. E surgiu em São Paulo como possibilidade de reforçar mais uma frente de luta contra o governo militar. Mas o feminismo ainda era uma novidade pouco conhecida até por aquelas que se declaravam como feministas. Era rechaçado pelos segmentos mais conservadores da sociedade, mas também pelos militantes da Esquerda revolucionária. Estes o consideravam fora de tempo e lugar. Ao impulsionar o movimento social, o feminismo no Brasil reapareceu em meados da década de 70 enfrentando a questão do poder externamente, na sociedade e no Estado, e internamente, no próprio Movimento de Mulheres. Os vários grupos que compunham o campo em que se afirmava o feminismo disputavam o controle do Movimento de acordo com os referenciais tradicionais de poder. E, ao mesmo tempo, buscavam alternativas de gestão do movimento que fugissem daqueles modelos. Ora porque assim as circunstâncias impunham, ora porque assumiam as críticas elaboradas pelo feminismo à natureza patriarcal e autoritária do poder tradicional. As contradições que o Movimento de Mulheres abrigou punham em jogo as posições de todas as suas ativistas, inclusive das próprias feministas. Fazia com que reexaminassem os seus papéis sociais e constatassem as suas condições de oprimidas. Construir as identidades feministas significava romper com os cânones estabelecidos para o ser mulher que haviam aprendido. Assim como implicava assumir-se como sujeito de suas lutas. / The second wave of the Feminist Movement in Brazil emerged in the context of fighting the Dictatorship. And it arose in São Paulo as a possibility to further enhance a battle front against the military government. Yet feminism was still a little known novelty even by those who declared themselves as feminists. It was rejected by the more conservative segments of the society, and also by supporters of the revolutionary Left, who regarded feminism as out of place and time. By propelling the social movement, feminism reemerged in Brazil in the midseventies facing the issue of power both externally, regarding the society and the state, and internally, inside the Women\'s Movement. The various groups comprising the field where feminism was grounded vied for control of the Movement in accordance with traditional references of power. At the same time, those groups sought alternatives to manage the movement, thus trying to escape from those conventional models. And this was because either the circumstances imposed, or because the groups adopted the Feminisms critique regarding the authoritarian and patriarchal nature of traditional power. The contradictions harbored by the Women\'s Movement put at stake the position of all its activists, including the feminists themselves. They were led to re-examine their social roles and to face their condition of oppressed beings. Building feminist identities meant breaking with the established canons that they have learned regarding what is to be a woman. The construction of the feminist identity also meant to become the subject of their own struggles.

A segunda onda do Movimento Feminista no Brasil emergiu em um contexto de combate à Ditadura. E surgiu em São Paulo como possibilidade de reforçar mais uma frente de luta contra o governo militar. Mas o feminismo ainda era uma novidade pouco conhecida até por aquelas que se declaravam como feministas. Era rechaçado pelos segmentos mais conservadores da sociedade, mas também pelos militantes da Esquerda revolucionária. Estes o consideravam fora de tempo e lugar. Ao impulsionar o movimento social, o feminismo no Brasil reapareceu em meados da década de 70 enfrentando a questão do poder externamente, na sociedade e no Estado, e internamente, no próprio Movimento de Mulheres. Os vários grupos que compunham o campo em que se afirmava o feminismo disputavam o controle do Movimento de acordo com os referenciais tradicionais de poder. E, ao mesmo tempo, buscavam alternativas de gestão do movimento que fugissem daqueles modelos. Ora porque assim as circunstâncias impunham, ora porque assumiam as críticas elaboradas pelo feminismo à natureza patriarcal e autoritária do poder tradicional. As contradições que o Movimento de Mulheres abrigou punham em jogo as posições de todas as suas ativistas, inclusive das próprias feministas. Fazia com que reexaminassem os seus papéis sociais e constatassem as suas condições de oprimidas. Construir as identidades feministas significava romper com os cânones estabelecidos para o ser mulher que haviam aprendido. Assim como implicava assumir-se como sujeito de suas lutas. / The second wave of the Feminist Movement in Brazil emerged in the context of fighting the Dictatorship. And it arose in São Paulo as a possibility to further enhance a battle front against the military government. Yet feminism was still a little known novelty even by those who declared themselves as feminists. It was rejected by the more conservative segments of the society, and also by supporters of the revolutionary Left, who regarded feminism as out of place and time. By propelling the social movement, feminism reemerged in Brazil in the midseventies facing the issue of power both externally, regarding the society and the state, and internally, inside the Women\'s Movement. The various groups comprising the field where feminism was grounded vied for control of the Movement in accordance with traditional references of power. At the same time, those groups sought alternatives to manage the movement, thus trying to escape from those conventional models. And this was because either the circumstances imposed, or because the groups adopted the Feminisms critique regarding the authoritarian and patriarchal nature of traditional power. The contradictions harbored by the Women\'s Movement put at stake the position of all its activists, including the feminists themselves. They were led to re-examine their social roles and to face their condition of oppressed beings. Building feminist identities meant breaking with the established canons that they have learned regarding what is to be a woman. The construction of the feminist identity also meant to become the subject of their own struggles.

<p>This thesis investigates how gynaecology was established as a medical speciality in Sweden in the 1860s and onwards. Gender, power, professionalisation and the production of scientific knowledge are central themes. While previous research has shown that gynaecology as a discipline depends upon notions of Woman as radically different from Man, I show how this was manifested within Swedish gynaecology, an initially all male environment. Of special interest is institutionalisation, early career-paths and the development of therapy methods and theory. I argue that gynaecology reproduced and contributed to notions of sex-difference and a gender complementary way of thinking. </p><p>While gynaecology was formed as a surgically interventionist speciality with strong manly connotations, an education reform aiming at opening higher education to women was simultaneously discussed and eventually carried out during the 1860s and 70s. The advocates of this reform portrayed women as especially fit for becoming teachers and physicians, particularly treating women and children. Thus, two opposing gendered professional ideals operated. By focusing an elite group of early women physicians, I outline how the gynaecological construction of womanliness related to women physicians and how women physicians engaged with this notion: what strategies they used to enter a profession as manly as gynaecology had become; and how women gynaecologists engaged with their men colleagues’ therapeutic methods and views on patients and women.</p>

This thesis investigates how gynaecology was established as a medical speciality in Sweden in the 1860s and onwards. Gender, power, professionalisation and the production of scientific knowledge are central themes. While previous research has shown that gynaecology as a discipline depends upon notions of Woman as radically different from Man, I show how this was manifested within Swedish gynaecology, an initially all male environment. Of special interest is institutionalisation, early career-paths and the development of therapy methods and theory. I argue that gynaecology reproduced and contributed to notions of sex-difference and a gender complementary way of thinking. While gynaecology was formed as a surgically interventionist speciality with strong manly connotations, an education reform aiming at opening higher education to women was simultaneously discussed and eventually carried out during the 1860s and 70s. The advocates of this reform portrayed women as especially fit for becoming teachers and physicians, particularly treating women and children. Thus, two opposing gendered professional ideals operated. By focusing an elite group of early women physicians, I outline how the gynaecological construction of womanliness related to women physicians and how women physicians engaged with this notion: what strategies they used to enter a profession as manly as gynaecology had become; and how women gynaecologists engaged with their men colleagues’ therapeutic methods and views on patients and women.

This thesis is a critical review of educated women’s leadership in their emancipation in Ethiopia. Did they provide leadership and to what extent? It is to be noted that educated women’s leadership has been of great importance to women’s emancipation worldwide. Strong leadership was also the driving force behind women’s movements and feminism everywhere. However, the role of educated women in Ethiopia is hard to discern and their leadership efforts are largely invisible. On the other hand, many among the educated also lack the passion and desire to commit themselves in the fight for women’s emancipation. In this thesis I researched the settings and frameworks of women’s leadership and discussed the factors that function as limitations and/or opportunities. Overall there were more limitations than opportunities. These limitations are often historically rooted in the country’s religious, cultural, economic, political and traditional systems. And, as much as history and religion can be a source of strength and pride for many, they can also be a serious obstacle. The political regime of the Derg also scarred an entire population to the extent that despite the currently proclaimed ‘freedom’ of the EPRDF ruling party, women remain reluctant to step forward and claim their rights. The ruling party appears to appropriate women’s emancipation as a “private” interest and to use it for political gain, in the same manner as the Derg regime had done before it. Nowhere is there any sign of genuine freedom and equality for women in practice. Rhetoric reigns supreme through laws and policy documents, but they are not matched by genuine actions and concrete strategies. The traditional religious base of society is also making it more difficult to challenge autocratic tendencies of the ruling elite. The effect is that civil society is slowly being pushed to extinction, leaving the ruling party in charge as the main actor in all public services. This has serious consequences for the genuine emancipation of women in the country. The thesis finds that women’s leadership is not a luxury or personal demand, but a crucial step for the development of the country at large. It is encouraging to note that there are different sections of active women in the country waiting for strong leadership, leadership that can unite them into a movement and guide them on their unique emancipation paths. After all, it is only women themselves who, with their existing epistemic advantage, can transform their situation and change their status. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

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