Women and Politics in a Plural Society: the Case of Mauritius

Town The copyright of this thesis rests with the University of Cape Town. No quotation from it or information derivedCape from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of theof source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non-commercial research purposes only. University WOMEN AND POLITICS IN A PLURAL SOCIETY: THE CASE OF MAURITIUS Town Ramola RAMTOHULCape of Dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the UniversityAfrican Gender Institute University of Cape Town February 2009 Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius ABSTRACT This research is a socio-historical study of women and politics in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius. It traces the historical evolution of women‟s political engagement in social and women‟s movements as well as in the formal political institutions. The backdrop to this study was my interest in the field of women and politics and concern on women‟s marginal presence in the Mauritian parliament since women obtained the right to vote and stand for election in 1947, and until recently, the stark silences on this issue in the country. Mauritius experienced sustained democracy following independence and gained a solid reputation in terms of its stable democratic regime and economic success. Despite these achievements, the Mauritian democracy is deficient with regard to women‟s representation at the highest level of decision-making, in parliament. Moreover, the absence of documentation on this topic has rendered the scope of thisTown study broad. In this thesis I primarily draw on the postcolonial feminist writings to study women‟s political activism in social and women‟s movements. With regard to women‟s participation in formal politics, I look at democratic contexts which resemble the Mauritian political system. From the body of literature on women‟s movement politics, I draw on theCape concepts of women‟s interests, autonomy and female solidarity. I analyse the interests ofof the main women‟s organisations, the type and existence of autonomy in the operations of women‟s organisations. I also discuss the issue of female solidarity, especially the formation of strategic feminist alliances between women‟s groups to form a strong lobby. The postcolonial literature also emphasises the emergence of feminism and women‟s political engagement in the context of national liberation movements, which makes the Mauritian case study interesting given the absence of a nationalist spirit at independence. As such, the Mauritian case Universitystudy has the potential to contribute to the theorisation in the field of „women and politics‟, especially in multicultural contexts, which is currently an emerging research area. On the issue of women in formal politics, the main concept investigated is that of participation. I analyse the factors which make women‟s political participation possible in Mauritius, which is an interesting case study given the communal nature of Mauritian politics. I also employ the concept of intersectionality to investigate women‟s political engagement in movements and formal political structures. Here I question whether women‟s multiple identities impact upon their political participation and activities of the women‟s movement. i Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius My study asks when and in what contexts did women engage in politics, both in social and women‟s movements and in political parties? What are the women‟s organisations that make up the women‟s movement? Do women‟s organisations function autonomously? Have women‟s organisations formed strategic feminist alliances between themselves and with women politicians? Is there any collaboration between the Ministry of Women‟s Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare and women‟s organisations? Has this ministry had any impact on the women‟s movement and its ability to form a strong lobby? What factors affect women‟s participation and presence in the formal political institutions? What is the impact of the conservative and patriarchal culture on women‟s political participation? Does the heavy influence of religion and ethnicity on Mauritian politics affect women‟s chances of nomination as an electoral candidate? Qualitative methods including life histories and semi-structured interviews were the primary research tools employed to collect data for this research. Targeted respondents included women politicians and leaders of women‟s organisations. Documentary sources such as the press, parliamentaryTown hansards, reports of NGOs and the Ministry of Women, historical texts and academic writings on Mauritius were also consulted. The findings show that women have a long history ofCape political engagement since colonial times in social and women‟s movements and also in ofpolitical parties. Women‟s intersectional identities played a determining factor as to which women were able to join formal politics and which women‟s group one was a member. Class, religion and ethnicity were key factors which slotted women into separate groups. As such, female solidarity was not a reality during that time. Women‟s organisations function with different levels of autonomy. Semi-autonomous and feminist women‟s organisations appeared from the late 1970s. In the absence of a nationalist struggle, it was the class struggle and theUniversity rise of movement politics that led to the surge of feminism in Mauritius. The key focus of these feminist bodies was on women‟s strategic needs and they formed strategic feminist alliances to fight for women‟s rights. Although some women‟s organisations had links with political parties, they were able to pursue a feminist agenda with to the support of the UN and its international treaties on women. The data thus shows that external funding and support are crucial to enable women‟s organisations to operate autonomously and to pursue a feminist agenda. Autonomous women‟s organisations have experienced difficulties in terms of sustainability, especially since the state body, the Ministry of Women‟s Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare also competes for donor funding. This Ministry is also a threat to the autonomous ii Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius functioning of women‟s organisations as it has taken over the role of the representative organisation for Mauritian women and hinders the formation of strategic alliances between women‟s organisations. Solidarity between the different women‟s groups is therefore currently lacking, which weakens the women‟s movement and lobby and hinders women‟s political participation and parliamentary presence. Women‟s lack of autonomy to pursue feminist political activism and intersectional identities, especially pressure to conform to conservative notions of respective femininity are the main factors which have hindered women from forming strategic feminist alliances. The data also highlights the fact that Mauritian women have been left out of the key political debates of the country. Political institutions are male dominated and function with a male bias which often alienates women. The religious and ethnic and patriarchal lobbies are much stronger than the women‟s lobby, which marginalise women‟s political participation. The women who do join political parties are not able to exert any form of „autonomy‟ and pursue Towna feminist agenda. This has weakened the ability of women politicians to form strategic feminist alliances across political parties and lobby for women‟s rights in the political arena. Hence, in Mauritius, women‟s lack of autonomy and the lack of solidarity between women in the politicalCape arena are the principal impediments to women‟s enhanced political participation and theof formation of a strong women‟s lobby. There is a need for women to organise strategically and look beyond their intersectional identities in order to exert greater autonomy in the political sphere. University iii Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The successful completion of this research has been rendered possible by the support and cooperation of a number of sources. I would firstly like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Amina Mama and Dr Elaine Salo for their academic and intellectual support, advice and guidance. I am also deeply grateful to the American Association of University Women, the University of Cape Town and the A.W. Mellon Foundation for having funded my research and enabled me to pursue this doctoral degree on a full-time basis without financial worries. Moreover, I express my gratitude to the women leaders who agreed to be interviewed for this study, gave me their time and made this study possible. I would also like to thank Prof. Jane Bennett for her constant support and for providing me with office space at the AGI during the writing stage. My thanks go to the AGI staff for their friendship, support and advice on living in Cape Town. I am especially thankful to Fareeda for her friendship, encouragement and help with printing the thesis. I Townam also very grateful to my friends from the Art of Living Foundation in Cape Town for their friendship, love and help during my stay, especially when I was ill and their help was crucial. I thank the University of Mauritius for having granted me study leave to enable me to pursueCape full-time study at the University of Cape Town. Finally, I thank my family for their supportof and encouragement throughout my studies. Ramola RAMTOHUL University iv Women and Politics in a Plural Society:

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