Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37996

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Bisexuality in Democratic South Africa: Experiences of Women in Johannesburg
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Khuzwayo, Zuziwe; Roy, Srila
The field of gender and sexuality studies has been growing in academic institutions since the 1970’s. One of the reasons for its growth is that women across the globe are challenging conservative ideas and norms on how they should engage in romance, sexuality and heteronormativity which has implications for broader society. There has also been an increase in LGBTQI+ rights globally including in parts of the world where historically these identities were viewed as illegal and foreign to the indigenous people. In recent years though, there has also been a growing anti-gender backlash across the globe that has resulted in hard-won legal rights being reversed, or new legislation being imposed that is homophobic and transphobic. When it comes to research on sexuality, studies on bisexuality, however, and specifically research stemming from Global South contexts, is limited. This research contributes to the field of sexuality studies by looking at how bisexual women construct and express their sexuality, looking at multiple factors such as race, class, age and space in the city of Johannesburg. Using qualitative methods of life-history and in-depth interviews conducted during the six years of the PhD, this study shows how each of these factors shapes and influence an individual’s sexuality in a democracy where LGBTQI+ rights exist but are inadequately materialised. Drawing on feminist and queer theory, the study delves into how bisexuality is expressed and performed by women living in Johannesburg, and how challenges in claiming their sexuality exist outside but also within LGBTQI+ spaces. The study shows how queer women continue to carve out public and private spaces for themselves amid high levels of violence against women. Lastly, the research shows the continued regulation of women’s sexuality through heteronormativity in public and private spaces, and what this says about how women living on the African continent claim their sexuality in different wa
Personhood and Gender in a Traditional African Community
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Nyirenda, Vitumbiko; Etieyibo, Edwin
There is a common assumption that traditional African societies were gender-neutral and lacked hierarchical gender ordering. Proponents of this view argue that women in these societies held significant positions, challenging notions of subordination and oppression. They contend that women have historically been leaders, advisors to kings, queens, soldiers, and landowners. However, some scholars argue that this assumption does not reflect the lived experiences of many African women, who face discrimination and oppression by men and society. This perspective suggests a distinct conception of personhood, indicating that African communities are inherently gendered, which in turn shapes their concept of personhood. The primary claim is that personhood has often been presented in non-gendered terms, based on the general assumption of gender neutrality in traditional African communities. However, this does not align with the realities of these communities. This dissertation thoroughly explores the intellectual divergence surrounding various understandings of gender in African society and its relation to discussions on personhood. Regarding gender, I argue that in the African context, it is viewed as complementary, fluid, and relational, indicating healthy and positive gender relationships within the community. Concerning personhood, I argue that it is often presented in non-gendered ways. Those who fail to recognize this perspective often conflate modern social issues with the dominant values of traditional African communities.
Women, State Law, And the Crisis of Chieftaincy: The Case Of Nswazi Village In Zimbabwe
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Muradzikwa, Tracey C.; Dube, S.I.
Increasingly, post-colonial African states have been grappling with the issue of the gender- gap within traditional leadership institutions, resulting in contestations between state laws and traditional customary laws. Using the landmark succession of Indunakazi Sinqobile Mabhena of Nswazi in Umzingwane district, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe as a case study, the dissertation provides a new perspective on female traditional leadership through studying the in-depth the negotiation of the legitimacy of Mabhena’s chieftaincy. The study is a “feminist ethnography” of the daily life of Chief Mabhena in a Nswazi community to establish how the governance strategies of women chiefs are configured in practice, with a focus on debates and contention regarding the succession and legitimacy of Indunakazi Mabhena. Drawing on more than one year of fieldwork and making use of a qualitative narrative ethnographic research methods, the Zimbabwean case shows how African women play a significant role in the reconceptualization of legitimacy in traditional leadership and the perceptions of the people of Nswazi on the legitimacy of Indunakazi Mabhena in particular. A key finding of the thesis is that the legitimacy of traditional leaders primarily lies with the community accepting the rulership of the appointed leader through celebrations, ceremonies, and commitment to the well-being of the people that preserve their heritage and lineage. To that end, the naturalization of male chieftaincy primogeniture is put to question.
Role of Men in Teenage Pregnancy in the Bojanala district, North West province, South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Petlele, Rebaone; Mkwananzi, Sibusiso; Odimegwu, Clifford
To Professor Odimegwu, words aren’t enough to express my appreciation for your guidance, support and enduring patience. Thank you, Prof, for guiding me through this journey, not only during my PhD, but from my undergraduate years. Thank you for not giving up on me. You have been instrumental in my career progression and achievements. I am most grateful. Dr Mkwananzi, thank you so much for being there for me. You have been my sounding board, you have been rooting for me from day one, thank you for giving of your time, your grace, and all you’ve shared with no reservation…including the laughs. Thank you. To my DPS family, you have been a source of motivation and my constant support system. Thank you to all staff members, past and present. Dr Sasha and Prof Nicole, you have been a constant and positive feature in my academic journey. You have taught me, mentored me and became a great example of what I could achieve. I appreciate you both very much. Ms Gloria, thank you for everything you do. To my fellow PhD brothers and sisters, what an amazing bond we share, thank you for the camaraderie, this journey was so much better with you by my side. You’ve been there and I cannot thank you enough, I know our journey doesn’t end here. To everyone at Community Media Trust (CMT), I am most grateful. Your organisation’s support has been immeasurable. Thuso Molefe, thank you for saying yes, thank you for facilitating all the reinforcement I needed to see through my fieldwork. Boitumelo, ka leboga (thank you) Sistas, your assistance opened so many doors, thank you for all that you did for me and with me. Mam’Wendy, thank you for being there when we needed you. The work you do is a calling, I appreciate all the counsel you provided during this time, not just to my study participants, but those moments I needed to debrief too. I know your work isn’t done yet, thank you for everything. Levite Solomon Mabolawa, you have gone far beyond the call of duty. You were there during all the phases of my fieldwork, you took on multiple roles, you used your resources and time to ensure I achieved what I was there to do. Thank you for being selfless, this would not have been possible without your daily acts of kindness. Thapelo Moloto, you’ve been more than a fellow researcher but a big brother. Thank you for nurturing this process like you would your own. I am so grateful. You never hesitated to take on this task, and I am so happy that it was you who accompanied me on this journey.
Gendered discursive practices of the South African police service towards survivors of domestic violence
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Sinclair, Ingrid Maralene; Vearey, Jo; Palmary, Ingrid
This study explores the reproduction, maintenance and resistance of gendered subjectivities within the discursive practices employed in the policing of gender-based violence (GBV). It examines how historical and socio-political structures shaping asymmetric power relations in society are reproduced in the everyday interactions between police officers and survivors of GBV. The research adopts a socio-historical lens on gendered policing, using an African decolonial feminist intersectional perspective. This approach focuses on the analytical categories of gender, violence, power, and inequality. This approach allowed me to situate the problem of GBV within the legacy of colonial and apartheid violence, where entrenched harmful gendered power dynamics have persisted and are reproduced in contemporary policing through the coloniality of power. By examining how police officials construct gendered power relations and how survivors experience these dynamics, I endeavour to illuminate how the gendered power relations are reproduced, resisted, and maintained in everyday policing in ways that reflect unequal power relations at the interpersonal, institutional, community, and societal levels. This qualitative study uses a bricolage of theories and methodologies embedded in a transdisciplinary approach to design a mosaic of the experiences of police and survivors of the policing of GBV. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, I conducted an ethnographic study that explored the experiences of survivors and victim advocates at a women’s shelter as well as visible police officials at four police stations in the West Rand, Gauteng. Data collection methods included narrative interviews, informal conversations, participant observation and the analysis of police documents. The data was analysed using a decolonial intersectional narrative analysis and a critical Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how discursive practices shape gendered subjectivities and power relations. The narratives of participants revealed and/or obscured how gendered subjectivities and intersectional inequalities are constructed, reproduced, resisted and maintained by police officials, survivors, and victim advocates. This study contributes to the growing body of research on the policing of GBV by showing how inequitable gendered power relations are institutionalised and normalised in the police organisational culture and are reproduced through symbolic violence in the everyday discursive practices of the police. By grounding the analysis of policing GBV in an African feminist decolonial intersectional framework this study situates GBV within the context of v colonial/apartheid violence that normalised violence as a means of resolving disputes. A decolonial reading of the policing of GBV reveals how violence became deeply embedded in knowledge regimes that are perpetuated through racism, classism, sexism and other social markers of difference. Additionally, the study draws on the lived experiences of survivors to contribute empirically to the body of knowledge regarding the crafting of a gender-responsive, socially just, and humane policing of GBV.
Masjid Al-Nasaa: Women Call for an Islamic Elsewhere
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Hoosen, Leyya
My research explores what it means to be a “Muslim woman” in South Africa in the digital age. More broadly, what does Muslimness and Religiosity mean? How do we enact these concepts and practices, and how do they inform our processes of identification? How does access to digital platforms allow a new way of engaging these forces? This research took place over the course of three years, starting in 2020, and was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. With the increased digitalisation that came with the pandemic, many activities had to shift to online platforms to survive. This also created a space where Muslim women were able to create virtual masjids and hold online prayers. I followed one such online Jumu’ah (Friday prayer) group and interviewed the women who attended. I also interviewed women from a women-led South African Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) on their experiences and relationships with Islam(s). While their relationships with Islam(s) and Muslimness were complex and nuanced, what echoed through all their narratives was that they felt called to Islam(s) in some way and their Islamic practice was a response to that call. In my thesis, I unpack this call and use it as a guiding conceptual and theoretical framework. Through the multifaceted nature of the call, and the different ways that the women are called to Islam(s), I explore what it means to respond to a call that is not bounded or territorial in its address. The thesis takes the form of a masjid (mosque) in its architecture: beginning with a preface that is named ‘Niyyah’ (intention); moving into the ‘Wudhu’ introductory chapter that provides the contextual and historical orientations for the research; and then proceeding to go through seven chapters, named after the minarets (spires) in a masjid complex. These seven core theoretical and narrative chapters unpack the call to Islam(s) that the women experience. The call ranges from a call to the Digital Islamic Elsewhere as an alternate semi-public, to a call beyond essentialised identifications (such as ‘Muslim’), a call that re-orients and queers notions of the ‘Muslim woman’, to a call that challenges a hegemonic ummah (transnational Islamic community) in favour of a multiplicity of ummah(s), a call that is hidden and opaque, and a call that is ensouled in its manifestation. These different frequencies of the call to Islam(s) echo and reverberate through the thesis as I unpack what it means to be a woman in Islam(s) in the digital age.
Decriminalising Sex Work: The Politics of Policy-Making in South Africa 1994 - 2019
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-04-19) Gathercole, Corey Sarana Spengler; Dube, Siphiwe I.
Sex Work in South Africa This thesis explores feminist viewpoints regarding sex work, delving into the intricate web of gender, race, and class within the unique historical context of South Africa (SA). Its central mission guiding the research was to identify, investigate, and shed light on the factors that had impeded the commitment and execution of sex work decriminalisation by the African National Congress (ANC) government. With a specific focus on the prevailing legislative framework in SA, which criminalised the sex industry, the thesis scrutinises the rationale behind this approach and assessed its suitability within the SA context. Additionally, it underscores the adverse repercussions of sex industry criminalisation on sex workers while questioning its effectiveness in achieving its intended goal of eradicating the sex work sector. Through a feminist lens, this research journey unraveled several root causes of the stagnation in SA's sex worker policy reforms. It explored the intricate dynamics of policy change, unveiling the stumbling blocks that hindered progress in the realm of sex worker policy. Given SA's distinctive historical landscape, characterised by a complex history of apartheid and racial inequality, the thesis argued that comprehending sex work in SA necessitated an examination of its inextricable connection to the country's socio-economic conditions. Moreover, the thesis conducts a comparative analysis of legislative frameworks in other countries where different approaches to sex work regulation had been adopted. Foucault's theory on the regulation of the body provides an invaluable framework for understanding the power dynamics at play within the context of sex work. It illuminates how the criminalisation of sex work was intertwined with exerting control over the female body, aligning with Foucauldian principles. The thesis investigates how these power dynamics sought to render those involved in sex work submissive, echoing traditional perspectives on body commodification. Drawing upon the history of SA and its tumultuous past, including the legacies of apartheid and the enduring effects of racial discrimination, this thesis contended that sex work in SA cannot be fully understood without considering its historical and socio-economic dimensions. It delves into the nuances of sex work policies in various countries, exploring models such as full decriminalisation, partial decriminalisation, and legalisation through both a feminist and Foucauldian lens. By examining these diverse approaches and their outcomes, the thesis provides valuable insights into the complex landscape of sex work regulation. As a comprehensive contribution to the study of existing legislative paradigms, this thesis addresses the pivotal question: "Why has the decriminalisation of sex work stalled in SA?" This inquiry gave insights into the complexities of policy change, the root causes of policy delays, and potential avenues for reforming sex work policy, all while considering the broader global context of sex work legislation and the implications of feminist and Foucauldian perspectives.
Rethinking the Logics of the Sex/Gender Anatomical Schema
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Nqambaza, Palesa Rose; Dube, Siphiwe
This dissertation is an appraisal of the dominant gender discourse(s) in selected South African anthropological, gender and feminist texts. It challenges the uncritical adoption of colonial sex/gender frameworks when making sense of indigenous ways and modes of being and proposes an Afrocentric alternative that goes beyond bio-logical frameworks. This study is two pronged. Firstly, it problematises the uncritical application of Western feminist theories that have tended to impose European realities on the African context. Secondly, it mines the indigenous archive for Afrocentric ideas that contribute to creating a uniquely African theory of subject formation that considers aspects important to the African world-sense such as seniority, kinship status and ancestral links. I make use of critical discourse analysis to analyse the dominant discourse(s) and knowledge on sex and gender within the context of what is today known as South Africa. I do this employing the Azanian philosophical tradition as the theoretical framework that informs the perspective from which I read and make sense of these discourses, using a mixture of textual analysis, linguistics, archival work, and historical method. Based on my reading of dominant gender discourses against textual, linguistic and historical evidence, I make the following arguments. Firstly, I problematise the blanket usage of the conceptual category of ‘woman’ to refer to colonised subjectivities. I demonstrate that Black womxn have been discursively constructed as existing outside the bounds of the conceptual category ‘woman’ who is the key subject of feminist theorising. Secondly, I demonstrate that the logics of the sex/gender anatomical schema, that organises men and women in a hierarchy, cannot account for indigenous modes of social organising. I maintain that African subjectivities are fluid, complex and contingent, depending on aspects such as one’s seniority, kinship status and ancestral links. Likewise, I invoke the institution of ubungoma as an additional site to demonstrate the inadequacy of the sex/gender anatomical framework in making sense of sangoma subjectivities. I also problematise the tendency to use LGBTQ languaging as an alternative in making sense of the institution of ubungoma. I maintain that while noble, this alternative framing is also implicated in underscoring the existence of a coherent sex/gender regime within which the institution of ubungoma is then assumed to be ‘queer’. I maintain that there is a pressing need to mine indigenous linguistic archives for alternative ways of wording indigenous subjectivities in ways that are not distortive, nor mimic Eurocentric versions.
Wartime Rape, Gender, and Militarism: The Bukavu People’s Conceptualisation of the Emergence of Wartime Rape in the 2004 Kivu Conflict in Contrast to the 1996 First Congo War
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03-15) Mushagalusa, Alice Karhikalembu; Stevens, Garth; Von Holdt, Karl
For more than a decade, armed conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been characterised by widespread wartime rape against civilians. The purposeful utilisation of wartime rape as a weapon of war has owed to the country unflattering labels, such as the “rape capital of the world, the worst place to be a woman, or again the dark hole”. The armed unrest in the DRC is rooted in the Belgian colonisation’s land administration policies that shaped some groups as native (autochthones) while constructing others as foreigners. Following an anti-war feminist perspective, this PhD explores the Bukavu people’s conceptualisation of the emergence of wartime rape in the 2004 Kivu Conflict in contrast to the 1996 First Congo War. I used participatory research methods, as dictated by the Covid-19 pandemic, to collect the data through focus groups and in-depth individual interviews with ordinary community members, former military officers, members of the civil society and community leaders in Bukavu (South Kivu Province, eastern DRC). The collected data made it possible to firstly recognise the absence of wartime rape as a weapon of war in the 1996 First Congo War; and to show that wartime rape has not always been ubiquitous in the DRC but became a lexicon that the perpetrators utilised to place divergent claims related to their customary land, military, political power ambitions, gendered ethnic identity, and citizenship aspirations. Secondly, the data allowed for disaggregating wartime rape into three categories based on the perpetrators’ motivations and claims. The thesis maintains that the Hutu-dominated Interahamwe militia, also recognised as the main authors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, resorted to rape in the eastern DRC for revenge and to (re)masculinise their troops while feminising the Congolese state. Next, this study demonstrates that the Rally for Congolese Democracy rebels, which claimed the Tutsi Congolese ethnicity, strategically resorted to wartime rape to claim customary land rights and citizenship recognition. Following, this thesis puts forward that the Mai-Mai militia, seen as native, erpetrated wartime rape to claim military respect and recognition while furthering the political agendas of their patrons. I maintain that patriarchy – as the shared norm between the perpetrators, the state and the victims (women, girls, men and boys) – makes it possible for wartime rape to be utilised as a lexicon and a destructive weapon against the victims’ sexual subjectivities and the whole community’s symbolic order. Hence, this study articulates a three-fold argument. This thesis firstly argues that the 2004 wartime rape is rooted in the Belgian colonisation and its lingering effects on forms of ethnicity, gender, land distribution and recognition of political rights in the present. Next, this thesis argues that wartime rape is a strategic weapon perpetrators utilise for revenge and to claim military recognition. Lastly, this study argues that the extreme violence of rape as an act of war aims to destroy the victims’ subjectivities and their community’s symbolic order. As such, this thesis weaves together three levels of analysis and examines wartime rape as multi-dimensional violence that interlaces into one act of wartime rape: the historical dimension (centring on land), the broader strategic considerations, and the destruction of victims’ subjectivities and the community’s symbolic order. At the same time, the combination of these dimensions varies considerably between the Hutu-dominated Interahamwe militia, the Rally for Congolese Democracy rebels, and the Mai-Mai militias – that is, the context even in one province within DRC produces variations in motive and form.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs)

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results