Practical Solidarity : Connections Between Swedish Social Democratic Women and Women in the African National Congress of South Africa, 1960-1994
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Deposit Guide Contact: email Practical Solidarity: Connections Between Swedish Social Democratic Women and Women in the African National Congress of South Africa, 1960-1994 Emma Elinor Lundin Department of History, Classics & Archaeology Birkbeck, University of London Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) July 2015 I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Emma Elinor Lundin ABSTRACT This thesis discusses the struggle to increase women’s participation in public and political life by focusing on the activism of women within the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) and the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) from 1960 until 1994. It argues that internationalism was key to these women’s success, providing them with a source of support and funding as well as a stage to develop policies away from overwhelmingly patriarchal national settings. Creating and steering political trends and discussions in international fora, and bolstered by the approval of others in the international community, the women who feature here gained a foot in the door of power and created environments conducive to their presence, abilities and voices. To uncover the tensions generated by women’s activism, the thesis investigates the social constructions of gender and how these fluctuated over the period discussed. Women’s attempts to increase their collective representation unveil the inner workings of mass-mobilising political organisations like the ANC and SAP. The thesis also discusses the impact of ideological developments in this era on women’s activism in SAP and the ANC and the increasing popularity of ‘identity’ liberation philosophies like second-wave feminism and black power. It finds that both were concepts these left-wing organisations struggled with, as they seemed to put individuals ahead of the collective. The thesis adds strength to the argument that women have been actively removed from history while their contributions have been consciously silenced in order to portray these political organisations as cohesive and united structures without inner divisions. Nevertheless, women’s attempts to become political leaders and senior members of party, parliamentary and government structures brought conflict and frustration, with every appointment fought for and hard lessons learned along the way. By recovering this history, the thesis challenges national and organisational myth- making, within Sweden and SAP as well as South Africa and the ANC. It argues that the narratives of these political women’s activists complicate organisational and national histories, which emerge as oversimplified constructions of progress and unity. !3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 10 LIST OF FIGURES 14 INTRODUCTION 15 The Swedish historical and historiographical context 18 The South African historical and historiographical context 24 Feminism and gender 33 Postcolonial criticism and complications 38 Challenging national myth-making: a comparative, transnational history 41 Sources 47 Issues and omissions 51 Chapter outline 52 CHAPTER ONE: THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONALISM — SAP WOMEN 1960-1976 INTRODUCTION 54 PART I Pioneers without paths to power 56 1960s: renewal and slow progress 59 1970s: conflict and reform 61 PART II Electoral realities 68 Women make an impact on parliament 72 PART III Women divided: the housewife debate 80 The ’68 generation, the New Left and women’s liberation 83 !4 PART IV Postwar internationalism: exporting the Swedish Model 85 From paternalism to collaboration 88 International stages and Foreign Office activism 94 CONCLUSION 96 CHAPTER TWO: FROM BANNING TO SOWETO — ANC WOMEN’S ACTIVISM 1960-1976 INTRODUCTION 101 PART I The origins of apartheid 103 Early opposition to segregation and apartheid 104 Women’s activism before 1960 105 Radical defence of the family: the importance of motherhood 109 PART II The birth of the underground movement 112 A generational schism: the Black Consciousness Movement 117 PART III The ANC in exile 120 The Morogoro Conference: change and confirmation 124 PART IV Double militancy and triple oppression 127 Practical solidarity: women to women 131 CONCLUSION 137 CHAPTER THREE: A QUIET REVOLUTION — SAP WOMEN’S ACTIVISM 1976-1990 INTRODUCTION 141 PART I A new era in national politics 143 !5 Women in parliament and the cabinet 150 PART II A new generation of women’s work 154 Radicals and mobilisation below the surface 157 SAP women’s activism through government and party 160 A new decade 164 PART III The loss of Palme and a new ideological era 166 PART IV Internationalism in a new era 170 SAP women’s internationalism: activism and academics 175 CONCLUSION 178 CHAPTER FOUR: CONFRONTATION AND COLLABORATION: ANC WOMEN’S ACTIVISM 1976-1990 INTRODUCTION 180 PART I South Africa 1976-1990: ‘reform’ and repression 182 PART II The ANC in exile: reaction and resurgence 185 Women and their bodies: weapons, protection and violence 188 PART III ANC activism within South Africa 195 UDF and UWO: the birth of a new mass-movement 198 The role of women in the mass-movement 203 Violent set-backs 206 PART IV ANC women’s internationalism: fusing internal and external structures 209 !6 CONCLUSION 218 CHAPTER FIVE: ERAS OF TRANSITION — SAP AND ANC WOMEN’S STRUGGLES FOR POWER, 1990-1994 INTRODUCTION 221 PART I SAP 1991-1994: loss and remobilisation 223 SAP in a changing world 229 The final hurdle: towards gender quotas 230 PART II The ANC 1990-1994: from exile to power 238 Negotiating space for women 241 Mobilising women: ANCWL and the Women’s National Coalition 246 CONCLUSION 253 CONCLUSION 2015: Rights, representation and a continued struggle 258 Challenging silences and restoring conflict 260 The importance of transnationalism 264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 APPENDICES Appendix A: Swedish political parties 318 Appendix B: Swedish governments, 1932-1946 320 Appendix C: Female cabinet ministers in Sweden, 1946-1994 321 Appendix D: Biographies 325 !7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fittingly for a doctoral thesis on the subject of women who collaborate, it is very much the result of just that. I have been very fortunate in having two generous supervisors without whom this thesis could not have happened. I am infinitely grateful to Hilary Sapire and Mary Hilson for their guidance, knowledge and enthusiasm, which has kept me going over the past three and a half years. I am particularly grateful to Hilary for looking after me on her own for the first 18 months, and to Mary for becoming a a vital member of our small team after that. It is thanks to the two of you that this thesis has become what it now is, and I cannot thank you enough. At Birkbeck, I would also like to thank Jessica Reinisch and Naoko Shimazu. Jessica supervised the Masters dissertation that has since become chapter one, and taught the module on internationalism and international organisations that sparked my interest in the history of cross-border transfers of knowledge and inspiration. In 2010, Naoko served on the Arts & Humanities Research Council board at Birkbeck, which offered me my first full scholarship and allowed me to prioritise my studies above everything else. I am also grateful to Jessica and Naoko for being a very helpful upgrade panel, and for our many informal chats and discussions over my five years at Birkbeck. Aside from my two AHRC scholarships, a succession of grants have made my many research trips possible. I am grateful to the boards of Tage Erlanders stiftelse för internationellt samarbete, Birkbeck’s AHRC committees and the Eric Hobsbawm scholarship fund for their financial contributions and encouragement. I would also like to thank my mother and mother-in-law, Kerstin Wramell Lundin and Christine Pounder, for generous contributions that allowed me to focus solely on my studies over the past six months. I have been very fortunate to have the help of excellent archivists on my research trips. I am particularly grateful to the staff at Arbetarrörelsens arkiv in Stockholm, Andre Mohammed and Lebohang Sekholomi at the UWC-Robben Island Mayibuye Centre in Cape Town, Mosanku Maamoe and Vuyolwethu Feni-Fete at the Liberation Movement !8 Archives at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, and Fredrik Egefur at Arbetarrörelsens arkiv i Skåne in Malmö. I would also like to thank the Taylors of Hout Bay and Sarah Emily Duff for giving me opportunities to break out of the archive and for being excellent guides in Cape Town. I would like to thank all interviewees who have been willing to talk to me over the years, and whose stories and experiences are vital to this thesis. I am particularly grateful for all the time Birgitta Dahl, Annie-Marie Sundbom and Frene Ginwala have set aside for me over the years, and the material they have kindly given me towards this thesis. Birgitta has been a particularly important sounding board, who I cannot thank enough. I would also like to thank Professor Shula Marks for putting me in touch with several ANC activists, including Frene Ginwala. My Birkbeck PhD colleagues deserve plenty of thanks, praise and rounds of drink for being so supportive. Barbara Warnock, Janet Weston, Stef Eastoe, Victoria Powell, Dave Bryan, Clare Roche and many others have made it a pleasure to break isolation over the past few years, and have also been excellent co-conspirators and copyeditors.