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Safe space online: The construction of intersectional safety in a South African feminist Facebook group A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Arts Degree in Journalism and Media Studies Rhodes University by Kayla Roux Supervisor: Professor Lynette Steenveld February 2017 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Lynette Steenveld for her continued patience and care during my seemingly endless Master’s degree. You provided solid foundations of social justice and feminist theory onto which I could build my new and sometimes strange ideas. I appreciated the support and solidarity of my colleagues at the School of Journalism and Media Studies, who politely stopped asking how my thesis was going when they saw the look of distress on my face. Thank you, Mamma Hanli, for encouraging me and for the practical writing advice. Thank you to my dear friends Gorata Chengeta and Darsha Indrajith, who read my work, discussed ideas with me, and kept me motivated with memes. Lastly, for his unwavering belief in my abilities and for making dinner while I finished this degree, I would like to thank my husband Michele Cristoferi. i Abstract In this thesis I investigate the construction of an intersectional ‘safe space’ in a closed South African feminist community on the social networking site Facebook. Drawing on my own experience as a group member, observations of group dynamics, focus group interviews with administrators, and interviews with past and present members, I discuss the practices and guidelines employed to ensure the safety and intersectionality of the group. This research spans a period of more than two years, and there were a number of developments in the group over this time. It is a relatively large and well-established feminist Facebook group in South Africa which enforces an intersectional approach to social justice, and it is explicitly formulated and closely monitored so that marginalised voices are privileged in group interactions. Despite the best efforts of group moderators, however, interactions between the privileged and the marginalised tend to reproduce existing power inequalities and jeopardise the safety of those the group is meant to serve. Although some interview participants feel that safe space practices such as the call-out system and exclusionary groups and posts serve to fragment the group and cause conflict, these complaints mainly originate from white women who were required to acknowledge their unearned privilege. Their presence in the group and the problem of ‘white derailment’ makes the space feel unsafe for many POC. Ultimately, a splinter group exclusively for POC was formed in order to provide a safer space for feminists of colour to find solidarity and support, discuss issues affecting them, and do the important and necessary work of self­ definition. I conclude that while these spaces are limited - and absolute safety can never be guaranteed - these exclusive spaces are an integral starting point in the development of a transversal intersectional politics of solidarity between different actors and movements that share the same values. ii Acronyms and definitions Cisgender: A term for people whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth CR: Consciousness-raising GLBTQ: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer IRL: ‘in real life’ POC: People of colour WOC: Women of colour Table of contents Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................i Abstract..................................................................................................................................... ii Acronyms and definitions........................................................................................................ iii Table of contents...................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Background and context........................................................................................1 Context of the research.................................................................................................................... 1 Contested spaces............................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter outline ................................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Theoretical framework and literature review........................................................7 Feminism in the 21st century..........................................................................................................7 Intersectionality ............................................................................................................................. 11 A Fourth W ave?............................................................................................................................. 15 Safe space as feminist practice......................................................................................................16 Safety versus contestation............................................................................................................. 23 Searching for safety online...........................................................................................................26 Chapter 3: Methodology......................................................................................................... 32 Qualitative research online...........................................................................................................33 Participant observation as cybermethodology........................................................................... 37 Ethics, power, and positionality...................................................................................................44 Chapter 4: Discussion — Creating and maintaining safety online........................................54 Group principles ............................................................................................................................ 60 Group rules...................................................................................................................................... 61 The role of moderators...................................................................................................................72 Chapter 5: Discussion — Reproducing and challenging power............................................. 78 Chapter 6: Conclusion............................................................................................................90 Bibliography............................................................................................................................ 94 iv Chapter 1: Background and context Context of the research Feminist movements that strive to overcome the different and intersecting power imbalances characterising contemporary society are caught in a paradox. How does one acknowledge difference without reinforcing inequality? How does one incorporate the unique lived experience of diverse groups of people into a shared utopian project? What is the link between our personal experiences of privilege and oppression and the broader structures and institutions governing our lives? The personal dimension of political struggles has found expression in many different ways, including the formation of exclusive ‘safe spaces’ organised around shared subject positions, cultures, and values. In this research, I investigate the ways in which an online feminist community in South Africa has formulated the concept of ‘intersectionality’ and how group rules are enforced in order to ensure safety for marginalised group members. Ultimately, it is the question of how this online community is grappling with the problem of difference in their struggle for social justice. The following questions form the basis for this inquiry: 1. How has the group changed over time in the efforts to become a safer and more intersectional space? 2. How do group principles inform the rules and common practices? 3. How do the rules work to ensure safety and intersectionality in the group? 4. What is the role of moderators in online safe spaces? 5. How are existing inequalities reproduced or challenged in this community? Since I joined the group in 2014, I have been interested in what I perceived as the paradox between creating a safe space for marginalised groups, and building a united feminist collective that crosses social and geographical boundaries. I have chosen this specific group for the study because it is the largest of its kind in South Africa. Unlike historical safe spaces within black feminist movements, they do not restrict membership to specific groups. This means that the group is engaged in a constant, shifting negotiation of difference and power, with the group rules serving as a guide enforced by the group administrators. I am also very interested in the possibilities the internet and related technologies could open up for transnational feminist 1 movements - as well as the dangers that being online pose. At the time of writing in 2016, it was a well-established closed Facebook group that had just reached 3,000 members and had 12 administrators. I had been a member since a few months after it was started, and I have witnessed a number of conflicts, resolutions, and

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