3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Becoming queer, being African: re-thinking an African queer epistemological framework(2019) Ombagi, Eddie CavinesThis project was initiated by the need to read queer lives and subjectivities in Kenya in the face of the hostile and violent homophobic religious and nationalistic rhetoric. In this project, I argue that Kenya has become a site of and frame for the contradictions of queer liveability on one hand and queer fungibility on the other. What I mean is despite virulent attacks by the political and religious section of the country against queer sexual expressions, intimacies and visibility, there exists a productive queer existence that is predicated on both embodied lived experiences and spatial subjectivity. In this project, I investigate the selected spaces – both geographical and literary - in ways that enable its users to perform this visibility and allow for the myriad possibilities that exist within this contradiction. I speculate on how the users imagine themselves within these spaces and the kinds of significations and meanings that accrue to the users subjectivities. I further contend that the structure of these spaces allows for queer, queering and queered flows that makes it possible for queer users to subvert them in ways that enables them to read, locate and recognize queer subjectivities. My critique is about how we understand queer subjectivities, lives and bodies outside of the common narratives of decadence, violence and its theorization as a western import. I wonder what sorts of positionalities and intensities accrue when Nairobi queer bodies inhabit spaces as they variously transition. Here, I aim to show that reading and contextualizing these connected and disconnected liminal spaces, reveals a deeper understanding of how queer individuals restructure the spaces that they occupy in order to account for, and narrativise their lives in light of the socio-political conditions in Kenya. My reading draws on insights on ‘becoming’ to insist that to adequately and forcefully locate queer bodies, expressions, desires and spaces within popular imaginaries and cultures, a theoretical spectrum that calls attention to the incoherence and unintelligibility of sexualities in nuanced complexities around community and/or the social fabric as well as lived experiences, spatial subjectivities, and embodied existences is necessary.Item Gender identities and the decision to return: the case of Rwandan refugee men and women in North Kivu, DRC(2016) Taiwa, Karen KoraenyRepatriation like any other form of migration is highly gendered. The objective of this research study is to analyze the gendered determinants of repatriation. I will explore various motivations for return and the general literature surrounding repatriation. My interest in the research was inspired by my experience working with Rwandan returnees where I encountered more female returnees than men. The other reason was the invocation of the cessation of Rwandan refugees on the 30th June 2013.The implication of the cessation meant to bring to closure to a close the refugee status of Rwandans who fled the country before 31st December 1998 and to find alternative status for those refugees still in need of international protection. An interesting observation is that despite this invocation by the end of 2013, the number of Rwandan refugees coming back did not increase as was expected. At the time of the interviews, the invocation of the cessation status of Rwandan refugees was a not an issue in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, a meeting held on the 2nd of October 2015 came up with new deadlines for the implementation on the cessation clause. This research follows a mini-research for my Honours degree that I conducted in 2014 with Rwandan refugees residing in Johannesburg. This work however differs from my previous pilot study in Johannesburg in two ways; in contrast to this research paper, my interviews in Johannesburg involved Rwandan refugees who had not taken the decision to return to Rwanda. Additionally, the refugee profile in South Africa comprised mostly political asylum-seekers while Rwandan refugees hosted in the DRC (my current research location) are mostly those who fled during the 1994 genocide. Voluntary repatriation is a contested issue. In various instances, refugees feel obliged to return either through active promotion of repatriation, reduction of aid in refugee camps or appalling conditions in countries of asylum. What is also evident is the politics between the countries of asylum and origin and the uncomfortable position the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) finds itself as it seeks to ensure the voluntary character of repatriation as is stipulated by the 1969 OAU convention. The gendered approach taken in migration studies reveals renegotiation of gender relations and roles as a result of displacement. Although the role of women changes considerably; social expectations puts more pressure on men to provide and as the limited livelihood opportunities during displacement curtails their primary role as breadwinners. Gender mainstreaming is one of the approaches employed by the, UNHCR to ensure that women are not only involved in all aspects of planning and development but also in issues of peace and security. The literature on repatriation, suggests that women and men consider different factors in their decision to return; men’s main concern is security while women dwell more on working structures like hospitals and schools for their children. During fieldwork, the household emerged as an important unit for repatriation decision making. The research employed a qualitative design. The tools for data collection included semi-structured in-depth questions for Rwandan refugee participants in Goma and key informants from the UNHCR and their government counterpart in the repatriation exercise the Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés (CNR). In addition, I engaged in an extensive secondary data search through journals, books, the internet, newspapers and policy documents. Thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the collected data. Based on the findings, it was evident that Rwandan refugee men and women put into consideration different aspects in their decision to return to Rwandan. Men focused mostly on security issues both in the DRC and Rwanda while women considered working structures like schools, hospitals and the hope of reclaiming their spouses’ land for the sake of the children. On the decision to return, single women took the decision on their own while in the case of married couples, the men came up with the idea and discussed it with their wives and children. A cross cutting theme between the interviewed Rwandan refugee men and women was the important function of social networks as a pull factor for return. Social networking was especially important in obtaining information about the specific areas in Rwanda and also acted as assurance for temporary accommodation upon return and therefore reducing the cost of return migration. Based on the findings, access to information for both men and women was not mentioned as a major challenge owing to advances in technology (radios, internet, and mobile phones) and the presence of social networks. Keywords (Returnee, Cessation Clause, Repatriation, Reintegration, Decision-making process, Gender, Identity, Social networking)Item Medical outcasts: voices of undocumented Zimbabwean and Mexican women fighting gendered and institutionalized xenophobia in American and South African emergency health care(2016-08-01) Richter, RoxaneThis thesis is the culmination of medical aid work and 24 one-on-one interviews with undocumented Mexican women in the U.S.A. and Zimbabwean women in South Africa seeking lifesaving emergency healthcare access. The theoretical research combined with practitioner-based fieldwork, shows the direct and deplorable effects of xenophobic policies coupled with a demonstrable failure to enforce healthcare access rights.Item The negotiation of masculinity by young, male peer counselors(2008-06-24T06:20:08Z) Davies, Nicholas Charles ChristopherThis study was directed at exploring the personal constructions of young males who had self selected as peer counselors, of what it means to be a man in South Africa at this time in history. One of the goals identified was to highlight and examine both hegemonic and alternative versions of masculinity and, in particular, to examine how young men position themselves in relation to these constructions. In order to investigate the research question, ten adolescents/young men participated in focus group discussions on the topic of masculinity. The participants included 8 school boys, 5 white and 3 black, attending a private, all boys school, as well as 2 black university students. All participants had self selected as peer counselors. The study is located in the qualitative research tradition which allows for depth of description and interpretation. The three focus group discussions held (two at the boys school with 4 participants in each, and one at the university) were recorded and transcribed verbatim. These transcripts were then subject to a critical thematic content analysis. The main themes were identified and the four themes which emerged as dominant in the conversation and occurred most regularly across all three groups are analyzed and discussed. These themes are emotional stoicism, normative heterosexuality, gendered division of labour and displayed toughness. Under each theme material supporting hegemonic constructions of masculinity and material supporting alternative constructions of masculinity is discussed as a separate sub-theme. The impact of the role as peer counselor on participants’ constructions of masculinity is also discussed. A brief meta-theoretical discourse analytic commentary is also provided, addressing for example, strategies employed by participants to maintain their sense of masculinity in the discussions. This study highlights the fluidity and plurality of masculinity as well as the struggle of adolescent boys and young men as they engage with where and how to position themselves as masculine. A main finding or observation is that some degree of alternative masculinity will be countenanced provided there is evidence of an acceptable baseline of hegemonic or traditional masculinity in a boy or man.