Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 9-20-2016 Negotiating Globalization from Below: Social Entrepreneurship, Neoliberalism, and the Making of the New South African Subject Oceane Jasor Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC001185 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Jasor, Oceane, "Negotiating Globalization from Below: Social Entrepreneurship, Neoliberalism, and the Making of the New South African Subject" (2016). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3049. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3049 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida NEGOTIATING GLOBALIZATION FROM BELOW: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, NEOLIBERALISM, AND THE MAKING OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICAN SUBJECT A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in GLOBAL & SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES by Océane Jasor 2016 To: Dean John F. Stack Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs This dissertation, written by Océane Jasor, and entitled Negotiating Globalization from Below: Social Entrepreneurship, Neoliberalism, and the Making of the New South African Subject, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Cem Karayalcin _______________________________________ Benjamin Smith _______________________________________ Percy Hintzen _______________________________________ Vrushali Patil, Major Professor Date of Defense: September 20, 2016 The dissertation of Océane Jasor is approved. _______________________________________ Dean John F. Stack SSteven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs _______________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2016 ii © Copyright 2016 by Océane Jasor All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate my dissertation to my mother, Chantal Confiant, and my son, Kanyon A. Roberts, who have been an indispensable source of love and support. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The process of writing this dissertation has been long, arduous, introspective and at times, extremely emotional. Overcoming its challenges - from getting access to organizations and participants to time and financial pressures – is certainly not done singlehandedly. I wish to acknowledge the unwavering support of my family, friends, colleagues, and professors, who have all contributed to helping me achieve my educational goals. Their constant faith in my abilities, guidance, and encouragements have kept me focused on, and enthusiastic about, writing and making contributions to my field of study. I would like to extend my deep-felt gratitude to my advisor and chair, Dr. Vrushali Patil, who has not only been an academic role-model to me, but also a conscientious, punctual, and critical reviewer and editor of my work. Dr. Patil has played a fundamental role in helping me grow as a writer and a critical feminist scholar. I am also beholden to Dr. Percy Hintzen for mentoring me and challenging me to sharpen my theoretical arguments and contributions. Dr. Hintzen’s extensive and important feedback undeniably improved the quality of this dissertation. I also want to extend my appreciation to Dr. Benjamin Smith for guiding me through the maze of doctoral requirements and deadlines. He has been a force of encouragement throughout the dissertation process. I am thankful to Dr. Cem Karayalcin for his support and commitment. In addition to my supportive committee, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Caroline Faria at the University of Texas for her role in helping me develop my writing skills, her support and feedback. I would also like to thank Dr. Patricia Price at Guttman College for v her support as I was applying to the Ph.D. program in Global Sociocultural Studies (GSS) at FIU. I want to recognize the support of Dr. Mamyrah Prosper, Dr. Jason Ritchie, Billy Hall, Valerie Canon, Janna Lafferty, Dr. Brittany Kiessling, Kimiko Tanita, Dominic Lomando, and Joanette Brookes. Another set of people, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, has played a major role in my journey. I want to profusely thank the directors and staff of Sonke Gender Justice for allowing me free access to the organization and its programs. Without their dedication in helping me set up interviews and focus groups throughout South Africa, I would not have been able to write this dissertation. I am indebted to each member of the staff, especially Tanya Charles, Mzwakhe Khumalo, Mbuyiselo Botha, and Bonginkosi Mthembu, for sharing their knowledge and life-stories with me. Zoya Mabuto, Elizabeth Egbe, and Obed Mathabe and many extraordinary beings have not only made my time in South Africa life-changing, they have also allowed me to conduct my research by caring for my son when I was traveling. I also want to acknowledge the generous financial support I have received from Florida International University. I am especially grateful for the Doctoral Evidence Acquisition Grant and the Dissertation Year Fellowship from the University Graduate School. The Morris and Anita Broad Research Fellowship Award has also been invaluable in helping me cover some of my in-country travels in South Africa. Finally, I am appreciative of GSS for granting me some travel funds. Without FIU’s support, my research and subsequent writing could not have been undertaken. Finally, the indefatigable love and support from my family and friends deserve my wholehearted praise. I wish to thank my mother, Chantal Confiant, for all the vi logistical support she provided. Her optimism and love encouraged me to go on. I also extend my gratitude to Antonio F. Roberts, Beatrice Brown, Nina Vilus, Tessa Whitaker, Obed Mathabe, Yannick Thams, Max Jasor and Sonny Jasor who have been my support team, always cheering me on through this grueling process. I want to especially acknowledge my son, Kanyon Roberts, who despite his young age, understood my drive and passion for the work that I do. He happily follows me around – from South Africa to FIU’s campus -; and his patience, humor, pride in me, and unconditional love saw me through trying times and sleepless nights. vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION NEGOTIATING GLOBALIZATION FROM BELOW: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, NEOLIBERALISM, AND THE MAKING OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICAN SUBJECT by Océane Jasor Florida International University, 2016 Miami, Florida Professor Vrushali Patil, Major Professor Neoliberal globalization can threaten the growth of a global civil society that sanctions power-sharing arrangements. Yet, scholarship that focuses unidirectionally on global processes may in effect eviscerate the transformative power of the local. To counter this tendency, this dissertation examines the interrelationships between contextualized and historically-specific experiences in South Africa and transnational processes through a case study of social entrepreneurship, an emerging global justice movement. Drawing on a 12-months institutional ethnography of Sonke Gender Justice, a transnational social entrepreneurship NGO working to achieve gender equality, prevent gender-based violence and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, this dissertation explores the gendered dimensions of identity construction under conditions of neoliberalism. I look at the ways in which a transnational discourse of masculinity unfolds and is confronted locally as an essential element of the neoliberal project. I argue that, in Africa, the developmentalist agenda of neoliberalism is integrally tied to the demonization of black masculinity, posed as a problem. This acts to elide the ways in viii which factors of oppression intersect in the manufacture of a patriarchal, sexist, racist and homophobic society, negating any effort to promote healthy gender relations. The dissertation concludes that global discourses and scholarship on African masculinity need to be informed by African women’s lived experiences, survival strategies, and aspirations for gender and racial democracy in order for the development of a truly transformative gendered democracy to occur. This can be accomplished by sound and detailed ethnographic work that engages with the messiness and fluidity of cultures, knowledges, and practices on the ground. This approach opens up spaces of possibilities and visibility for an array of local renegotiations, borrowings, and frank resistances. My conclusion acknowledges the potential for significant contributions to global civil society’s struggle for justice and for transformation when transnational solidarity projects are inserted into local formations. However, these goals can only be accomplished when there is acknowledgement and engagement of the practical ways in which local agents try to negotiate and reformulate transnational discourses and challenge neoliberal representations. ix TABLE