DOCSLIB.ORG

Black Consciousness and Gender

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Black Consciousness and Gender ISSUE 5: JANUARY 2013 CONTENTS Black Consciousness: Black Consciousness A Mind of One’s Own 2 and Feminism 7 Introduction: The Role of Black Consciousness Contradictory Locations: Black Black Consciousness in Redefining Contemporary Women and the Discourse of the and Gender 1 Black Masculinity 4 Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa 13 Black Consciousness and Gender ince the advent of South Africa’s Journal, we reflect on the ways in which democratic dispensation, discourse the ideology of Black Consciousness (BC) Son gender, and particularly the role of historically contributed to the liberation of women in society, has gained prominence. women, and the ways in which this philo- Enshrined in the Constitution are certain sophy continues to shape feminist thinking inalienable rights that guarantee girls and in the 21st century. With that said, we women equality under the law. The African also explore the short-comings of BC and National Congress, the governing party since the Black Consciousness Movement in 1994, has gone so far as to mandate that advancing gender equality. Our hope is women comprise 50% of their leadership; that this issue of the FrankTalk journal will and indeed, South Africa has one of the highest provide another framework through which NKOSINATHI BIKO rates of female representation in its parlia- to understand these topics—and make real Chief Executive Officer of the Steve ment globally. Yet, paradoxically, South Africa notions of equality. Biko Foundation also has one of the highest incidences of To lead us into this discussion, we are reported rape anywhere in the world. Further, pleased to bring you contributions from four women in our country, as is the trend globally, individuals who have reflected on Black are disproportionally poor and carry the great- Consciousness and Gender in their various est disease burden. capacities as feminist scholars, political “One must Confronted with this contradiction, there analysts and activists. immediately dispel are moments on the national calendar in We look forward to bringing you more which South Africa pauses to consider perspectives on contemporary socio-economic the thought that the role of women in society: to celebrate and political issues in the coming editions Black Consciousness their contributions and to examine their of the journal and invite you to share your is merely a challenges. As South Africa concluded the 16 contributions with us via email: days of activism against the abuse of women [email protected] or the FrankTalk Blog methodology or a and children and celebrated the 66th www.sbffranktalk.blogspot.com. means towards an birthday of Steve Biko last month, we at Continue the dialogue through Facebook the Steve Biko Foundation take a moment to www.facebook.com/TheSteveBikoFoundation end.” Steve Biko consider Black Consciousness and Gender. and Twitter www.twitter.com/BikoFoundation. In this, the fifth edition of the FrankTalk 2 Black Consciousness A Mind of One’s Own By Mohau Pheko lmost every canonised Western are marginalised and discriminated philosopher is on record as viewing against in society, to acquire a critical Awomen as inferior, incompetent, consciousness. This literacy is a critical or disqualified epistemic or moral agents. consciousness for interrogating racism There are social arrangements that and sexism. It helps examine the subordinate or oppress women which representations of African women and are served and protected by patterns of African life in literature and popular culture. belief and social interactions that make It helps us figure out how these rep- truths about women’s subordination and resentations enhance and undermine its alternatives hard to recognise, or easy the capacity of African women to to cover up. determine their own fate. Black Con- Black Consciousness makes such sciousness is a tool that makes it easier social orders costly if not impossible. This to scrutinise in particular, the way in AMBASSADOR MOHAU PHEKO consciousness keeps certain testimonies which such representations work to impeachable where they nonetheless enslave or liberate African women, Mohau Pheko is currently the South emerge. To this general end it helps to reinforce or challenge racism in whites, African ambassador to Japan. have discredited certain categories of and sustain or subvert white supremacy. This comes after her post as South testifiers in advance. So it has been with Black Consciousness reminds us that African high commissioner to women and Black Consciousness and white lives and African lives are doubtless Canada. As a political economist, the societies it informs. just as segregated today as ever. Now, Mohau Pheko is one of the most Steve Biko in “The Quest for a True however, we watch a lot of images of respected voices in development Humanity,” I Write What I Like says “We African women on TV and in other media. economics. A specialist in the do not want to be reminded that it is The presence of such images creates position of women in economics, we, the indigenous people, who are an illusion of familiarity, a ‘sisterhood’ of Pheko has worked as a consultant poor and exploited in the land of our sorts, a kind of simulated integration. Yet to Southern African governments birth. These are concepts which the few of these images are produced by and companies and for numerous Black Consciousness approach wishes African people, or challenge stereotypes international programmes. In 1998 to eradicate from the black man’s mind of African women. In terms of race, she set up the Motheho Integrity before our society is driven to chaos by class, and gender, white people talk Consultants, a company which irresponsible people from Coca-Cola about “the black family,” “unemployed specialises in providing economic and hamburger cultural background.” black women,” or whomever, as if they research, policy and literature to This easily translates into a clear know what they are talking about- as if parliamentarians, civil servants and message; we women do not want to be African people were speaking instead of women’s organisations. Pheko is reminded that it is we, who are poor and being spoken about. Their conversations also coordinator of Gender and exploited in the land of our birth. For me, create the illusion that they know African Trade Network in Africa. an African woman, Black Consciousness people’s lives. as espoused by Steve Biko is a necessary Black Consciousness for African step to owning, shaping and celebrating women has been essential for women’s the black mind. This leads one to what consciousness raising in terms of I call a mind of one’s own. It asserts challenging ideas that run counter to African women as authoritative speakers, values and beliefs that advance the status “Black Consciousness credible witnesses, thinking subjects of women in our society. It has given is a tool that makes it and reflectively responsible moral agents. impetus for women to refuse to conform easier to scrutinise in Black Consciousness has contributed to someone else’s image of who and what particular, the way in to the women’s movement a literacy that they should be and to a large extent have which representations is essential to the future of the movement the opportunity through the ideas of Black work to enslave or because the lack of reading, writing and Consciousness to reinvent themselves. liberate African critical skills serves to exclude many In reinventing themselves, African women, reinforce or women from consciousness. Not only women through Black Consciousness challenge racism in that, it excludes many from the political have entered the contested terrain of whites, and sustain process and the labour market. I regard power that tends to distribute power in or subvert white literacy as more than being able to read an asymmetrical manner between men supremacy.” and write. I refer to the literacy that and women, white and black. Among enables women, particularly those who those powers is the power to name 3 niversity of Technology U Peace Activist, Ela Gandhi at a seminar discussing Biko’s Quest for a True Humanity True Quest for a Ela Gandhi at a seminar discussing Biko’s Activist, Peace Picture courtesy of Durban Picture and describe things, to find and attest whiteness. Race is always an issue of to fact, to be an arbiter of interpretation, otherness that is not white; it is black, “It seems to me that to speak for oneself, in public, or brown, yellow, red, purple even. Yet only crucial questions with authority, to speak credibly on a persistent, rigorous and informed critique of “race”, values, multitude of issues and places, or to of whiteness could really determine what identity, culture, new speak at all. forces of denial, fear and competition intellectual frames, The challenge for Black Conscious- are responsible for creating fundamental and social and cultural ness is for African women to produce gaps between professed political transformation that a discourse on race that interrogates commitment to eradicating racism and whiteness. It would just be attention the participation in the construction of a SASO and Black grabbing for all those white folks who discourse on race that perpetuates racial Consciousness raised are giving blacks their take on blackness domination. remain highly relevant to let them know what’s going on with in our own time.” 4 The Role of BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS in Redefining Contemporary Black Masculinity By Busisiwe Deyi is overwhelmed by a sense of being MS BUSISIWE DEYI overburdened by societal, economic and political responsibility. Busisiwe Deyi is a queer transfeminist/feminist and Apartheid as an oppressive system, human rights activist. She graduated with her LLB sought to create a societal paradigm from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and within which it could justify its existence. went on to graduate with her Masters (LLM) in Human Therefore, in order to justify the oppression Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Human of black people, it legitimised oppression Rights Centre, University of Pretoria.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Article the South African Nation
    The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article. Article The South African nation Ivor Chipkin In 1996 the South African Labour Bulletin made a startling comparison. It suggested that the movement of trade-unions to invest members' contributions in 'investment companies' resembled models for Afrikaner economic empowerment. InparticularNail (New Africa InvestmentLimited), one of the flagships of Black Economic Empowerment, was compared to Rembrandt, one of the flagships of Afrikaner economic power (SALB 1996). What was being juxtaposed here was African and Afrikaner nationalism. Indeed, it was hinted that they were somehow, even if modestly, similar. What was important was the principle of the comparison: that they could be compared at all! Since then, even if it is not commonplace, it is at least not unusual to hear journalists and others draw similarities between them (see, for example, Heribert Adam in the Weekly Mail & Guardian, April 9,1998). Today it is even possible to hear members of government or the ANC hold Afrikaner nationalism up as a model for Black Economic Empowerment (see Deputy Minister of Finance, MB Mpahlwa 2001). In this vein African and Afrikaner nationalism are beginning to receive comparative treatment in the academic literature as well. Christoph Marx in a recent article discusses continuities between the cultural nationalist ideas of Afrikaner nationalism and those of current day Africanism.
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa and the African Renaissance
    South Africa and the African Renaissance PETER VALE* AND SIPHO MASEKO On May , immediately prior to the adoption of South Africa’s new con- stitution,Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela’s chosen successor, opened his address to the country’s Constitutional Assembly with the words ‘I am an African!’. In an inclusionary speech, symptomatic of post-apartheid South Africa, Mbeki drew strands of the country’s many histories together. His words evoked great emotion within the assembly chamber, and later throughout the country: across the political spectrum, South Africans strongly associated themselves with the spirit of reconciliation and outreach caught in his words. South Africa’s reunification with the rest of the continent had been a significant sub-narrative within the processes which led to negotiation over the ending of apartheid. That South Africa would become part of the African community was, of course, beyond doubt; what was at issue was both the sequence of events by which this would happen and the conditionalities attached to its happening.The continent’s enthusiasm for the peace process in South Africa was initially uneven: the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in June decided to retain sanctions against South Africa although the Nigerian leader, General Ibrahim Babingida, expressed an interest in meet- ing South Africa’s then President, F.W.de Klerk, if such an occasion ‘would help bring about majority rule.’ The political prize attached to uniting South Africa with the rest of the continent explains why South Africa’s outgoing minority government, despite energetic and expensive diplomatic effort, was unable to deliver its own version of South Africa in Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Women's Reactions to Men's Patriarchal Oppressions in Selected
    European Scientific Journal December 2018 edition Vol.14, No.35 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 Women’s Reactions to Men’s Patriarchal Oppressions in Selected Ghanaian Male and Female Novels Theophile Houndjo, (PhD) Akinola Monday Allagbe, (PhD Candidate) University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Republic of Benin Doi:10.19044/esj.2018.v14n35p18 URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2018.v14n35p18 Abstract Social imbalances between men and women are the bedrock of injustices women encounter in the world, particularly in African societies. Patriarchy is identified by womanist and feminist scholars as one of the social practices that give men more privilege and maintain women in peripheral roles. This article examines how female characters in African patriarchal settings of two Ghanaian male and female novels, Asare Adei’s A Beautiful Daughter (2012) and Amma Darko’s The Housemaid (1998) have been able to face/cope with men’s oppressions through womanist and radical feminist theories. The findings have revealed that majority of the female characters are empowered economically and socially in the male and female fictional texts, and this has enabled them to combat men’s patriarchal oppressions. The female characters’ reactions vary from one another. Some of them made use of pacific ways such as dialogue, feminine solidarity or sisterhood in their attempts to address men’s patriarchal oppressions, while others have made use of violence against men and children in their quest for justice and equality. Keywords: Patriarchy, injustice, womanism, radical feminism, women’s reaction Introduction Patriarchy is identified by womanist and feminist scholars as one of the social practices that oppress women.
    [Show full text]
  • The Power of Heritage to the People
    How history Make the ARTS your BUSINESS becomes heritage Milestones in the national heritage programme The power of heritage to the people New poetry by Keorapetse Kgositsile, Interview with Sonwabile Mancotywa Barbara Schreiner and Frank Meintjies The Work of Art in a Changing Light: focus on Pitika Ntuli Exclusive book excerpt from Robert Sobukwe, in a class of his own ARTivist Magazine by Thami ka Plaatjie Issue 1 Vol. 1 2013 ISSN 2307-6577 01 heritage edition 9 772307 657003 Vusithemba Ndima He lectured at UNISA and joined DACST in 1997. He soon rose to Chief Director of Heritage. He was appointed DDG of Heritage and Archives in 2013 at DAC (Department of editorial Arts and Culture). Adv. Sonwabile Mancotywa He studied Law at the University of Transkei elcome to the Artivist. An artivist according to and was a student activist, became the Wikipedia is a portmanteau word combining youngest MEC in Arts and Culture. He was “art” and “activist”. appointed the first CEO of the National W Heritage Council. In It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop by M.K. Asante. Jr Asante writes that the artivist “merges commitment to freedom and Thami Ka Plaatjie justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body He is a political activist and leader, an and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an academic, a historian and a writer. He is a observation is to have an obligation.” former history lecturer and registrar at Vista University. He was deputy chairperson of the SABC Board. He heads the Pan African In the South African context this also means that we cannot Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Stakeholder Magazine 3Rd Term 2017 18
    ARK NEWS P FREEDOM October - December 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor’s Comment Chairperson’s remarks CEO’s Foreword Biography HoD Public Participation Ms M Makoela Dialogue with the nation We look back upon a year that has been so significant in terms of the many events that took place. Fulfilling our National Mandate Our mandate is to make Freedom Park visible, thereby growing its number of visitors. Team work, focus and accountability are the hallmark of how we do things. There is greater visibility of Freedom Park and the Park is on demand from other museums in South Africa Corporate Calendar/ Events and foreign governments to share its experience dedicated to peace and freedom. We have implemented a number of key partnerships with like-minded institutions. Freedom Park is Good to know one of the few institutions which deal with sensitive issues of politics and history but which enjoy legitimacy across the wide spectrum of society. The whole concept of Freedom Park and its content is unique in this country and on the continent. It integrates history, culture and spirituality in a special way and the storyline is infused in the design, architecture and landscape. That is why no person who enters Freedom Park can stay unaffected by the experience. This is a place of pilgrimage for all South Africans – every South African must visit Freedom Park once in their life-time. It is open for tourists, domestic and international, and is a treasure of knowledge for school-children and all who want to learn about our history, culture and spirituality as Africans.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerd Brantenberg's Egalias Døtre in Translation
    Lexis Journal in English Lexicology 17 | 2021 Humor, creativity and lexical creation Laughing at “normality”: Gerd Brantenberg’s Egalias døtre in translation Luise von Flotow, Ida Hove Solberg and Enora Lessinger Electronic version URL: https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/5429 DOI: 10.4000/lexis.5429 ISSN: 1951-6215 Publisher Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 Electronic reference Luise von Flotow, Ida Hove Solberg and Enora Lessinger, “Laughing at “normality”: Gerd Brantenberg’s Egalias døtre in translation”, Lexis [Online], 17 | 2021, Online since 15 August 2021, connection on 20 August 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/lexis/5429 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/lexis.5429 This text was automatically generated on 20 August 2021. Lexis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Laughing at “normality”: Gerd Brantenberg’s Egalias døtre in translation 1 Laughing at “normality”: Gerd Brantenberg’s Egalias døtre in translation Luise von Flotow, Ida Hove Solberg and Enora Lessinger Introduction1 1 Introduced to feminist wordplay and neologism in the books I read as I was nursing small children in the late 1970s, I remember laughing till the tears came: Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology. The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (1978) was my first exposure to the daringly creative and inventive subversion of conventional language or “malespeak” a subversion she deploys provocatively in the preface and introduction to this book. Her work and other contemporary writers’ disruption of mainstream “malestream” language that had arrogantly placed “man” in first position as the representative of the human race and denigrated women, girls, and female pre-occupations were absolutely hilarious.
    [Show full text]
  • 2001 Lecture
    THE JAMES BACKHOUSE LECTURE 2001 RECONCILING OPPOSITES: REFLECTIONS ON PEACEMAKING IN SOUTH AFRICA Hendrik W van der Merwe The James Backhouse Lectures The lectures were instituted by Australia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) on the its establishment of that Yearly Meeting in 1964. James Backhouse and his companion, George Washington Walker were English Friends who visited Australia from 1832 to 1838. They travelled widely, but spent most of their time in Tasmania. It was through their visit that Quaker Meetings were first established in Australia. Coming to Australia under a concern for the conditions of convicts, the two men had access to people with authority in the young colonies, and with influence in Britain, both in Parliament and in the social reform movement. In meticulous reports and personal letters, they made practical suggestions and urged legislative action on penal reform, on the rum trade, and on land rights and the treatment of Aborigines. James Backhouse was a general naturalist and a botanist. He made careful observations and published full accounts of what he saw, in addition to encouraging Friends in the colonies and following the deep concern that had brought him to Australia. Australian Friends hope that this series of Lectures will bring fresh insights into the Truth, and speak to the needs and aspirations of Australian Quakerism. This particular lecture was delivered in Melbourne on 8 January 2001, during the annual meeting of the Society. Colin Wendell-Smith Presiding Clerk Australia Yearly Meeting © Copyright 2001 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia Incorporated.
    [Show full text]
  • Presentation of National Orders Osefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse R Pretoria Tuesday, 8 December 2015
    AWARD CEREMONY NATIONAL ORDERS National Orders 2015_inside_REV2.indd 1 2015/11/27 9:51 AM Order of Proceedings PRESENTATION OF NATIONAL ORDERS OSEFAKO MAKGATHO PRESIDENTIAL GUESTHOUSE R PRETORIA TUESDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2015 1. Nominees for the National Orders and guests take their seats 2. Arrival of the His Excellency President Jacob Zuma 3. Rendition of the South African National Anthem and the African Union Anthem 4. Word of welcome by the Programme Director 5. Ceremonial oration by the Grand Patron of National Orders 6. Investiture of the National Orders • THE ORDER OF MENDI FOR BRAVERY • THE ORDER OF IKHAMANGA • THE ORDER OF THE BAOBAB • THE ORDER OF LUTHULI • THE ORDER OF THE COMPANIONS OF OR TAMBO 7. The President, the Chancellor and recipients of National Orders proceed to the credentials room for a photo opportunity 8. The President, Chancellor and recipients of National Orders return to the Banquet hall for Luncheon Grand Patron of National Orders His Excellency President Jacob Zuma Chancellor of National Orders Dr Cassius Lubisi The Advisory Council on National Orders Ms Brigitte Mabandla; Mr Mandla Langa; Dr Glenda Gray; Dr Molefi Oliphant; Dr Lindiwe Mabuza; Prof Malegapuru Makgoba; Ms Mary Burton; Ms Sally Padayachie; Rev Buti Tlhagale; Mr James Motlatsi; Dr Fazel Randera and Ms Nothembi Mkhwebane. ii National Orders 2015_inside_REV2.indd 2 2015/11/27 9:51 AM Recipients THE ORDER OF MENDI FOR BRAVERY THE ORDER OF LUTHULI RBRONZE BRONZE 1. Jetro Ndlovu 18. Kay Moonsamy SILVER SILVER 2. Joseph Morolong (posthumous) 19. William Henry Frankel 3. Caleb Motshabi (posthumous) 20. Johnson Malcomess Mgabela 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Abandoning the Masculine Domain of Leadership to Identify a New Space for Women's Being, Valuing and Doing
    University of Wollongong Thesis Collections University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Year Abandoning the masculine domain of leadership to identify a new space for women’s being, valuing and doing Diann M. Rodgers-Healey University of Wollongong Rodgers-Healey, Diann M, Abandoning the masculine domain of leadership to identify a new space for women’s being, valuing and doing, PhD thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, 2008. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/782 This paper is posted at Research Online. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/782 ABANDONING THE MASCULINE DOMAIN OF LEADERSHIP TO IDENTIFY A NEW SPACE FOR WOMEN’S BEING, VALUING AND DOING A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by DIANN M. RODGERS-HEALEY, B.A. (Sydney Uni), Dip. Ed. (Alex Mackie), M.Ed. (ACU) FACULTY OF EDUCATION JANUARY 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to sincerely thank Professor Stephen Dinham for journeying with me through this study and for his wisdom, proficiency and constructive feedback. I am also extremely grateful to Associate Professor Narottam Bhindi for his unwavering support and guidance and discussion of broader issues of life. My deepest thanks are also extended to my husband, Philip Healey for supporting me in my lengthy quest in every possible way. Sincere thanks to my father Roy Rodgers for his guidance and for ardently encouraging me to be the best I can be. Thank you to my three young sons, Aaron, Benjamin and Matthew whose smiles and cuddles made the tedious juggle so much easier.
    [Show full text]
  • The Black Sash, Vol. 16, No. 7
    The Black Sash, Vol. 16, No. 7 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org/. Page 1 of 41 Alternative title The Black SashThe Black Sash Author/Creator The Black Sash (Johannesburg) Contributor Duncan, Sheena Publisher The Black Sash (Johannesburg) Date 1973-11 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1973 Source Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) Relation The Black Sash (1956-1969); continued by Sash (1969-1994) Rights By kind permission of Black Sash. Format extent 39 page(s) (length/size) Page 2 of 41 SASHVol. 16. No. 7Nov. 1973Price: 40cThe Black Sash magazine Page 3 of 41 BLACK SASH OFFICE BEARERSIlEADQUARTERSNational President: Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Economics and Politics of Auditing Government Budgets for Their Gender Impacts, 2000
    Hawke Institute Working Paper Series No 16 WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH: REFLECTIONS ON THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane Hawke Institute, University of South Australia Magill, South Australia 2001 © Mbulelo Mzamane and the Hawke Institute, University of South Australia 2001 The Hawke Institute University of South Australia St Bernards Road Magill South Australia 5072 Australia www.hawkecentre.unisa.edu.au/institute ISSN 1443-9298 ISBN 0 86803 815 6 WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH: REFLECTIONS ON THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane* Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I rise. Maya Angelou AFRICAN RENAISSANCE: MYTH OR REALITY? Since 1994 South Africans have had an endless volley of buzzwords unleashed on them, sometimes little more than sloganeering and empty rhetoric passing for originality and profundity. ‘African renaissance’ is perhaps the catchiest of these new phrases to enter the lexicon of most South Africans. The expression itself reflects in some quarters a new orthodoxy, which has been embraced by politicians, academics and the nouveau riche. One of Thabo Mbeki’s earliest public references to the African renaissance appears in his speech as deputy president—reproduced in his collection of speeches Africa: the time has come (1998: 201)—delivered at the Summit on Attracting Capital to Africa that was organised by the Corporate Council on Africa in Chantilly, Virginia, 19–22 April 1997, in which he said: Those who have eyes to see let them see. The African renaissance is upon us. As we peer through the looking glass darkly, this may not be obvious.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Thinking Masculinity: Discourses of Gender and Power in Two Workplaces
    Re-Thinking Masculinity: Discourses of Gender and Power in Two Workplaces. Matthew Shepherd Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography, University of Sheffield. September 1996 Re-Thinking Masculinity: Discourses of Gender and Power in Two Workplaces. Matthew Shepherd Abstract The proliferation of academic studies of men and 'masculinity' in the last twenty years has mirrored the growth of feminist studies of women and gender relations. This thesis reflects upon these theoretical developments and examines the expression of 'masculinity' amongst employees in two contrasting workplaces in Yorkshire. Adopting a Foucauldian approach, it is suggested that 'masculinity' should be analysed as a set of practices which create, maintain and reinforce inequalities between the sexes and that their achievement is situationally contingent. From this perspective, masculinity can only be understood within a framework of power, conceptualised as relational, productive and existent only in its exercise. Critical evaluation of the 'masculinity' literature demonstrates that conventional conceptualisations of 'masculinity' have produced methodological impasses, of which the most problematic is the conflation of 'masculinity' with the study of men. The thesis proposes an alternative framework which recognises that discourses of 'masculinity' relate to the words and actions of women as well as of men and that 'masculin~y' is most profitably understood as a series of discourses - transcending the scale of the individual - which set out the 'rules', expectations and conditions within which everyday gender relations take place. The empirical investigation of these ideas adopts a qualitative approach. In-depth, repeated interviews focusing upon participants' work experiences and home lives were carried out with men and women from the two workplaces - an academic department within a university and a manufacturer of metal products.
    [Show full text]