A Bit on the Side

Gender Struggles in the Politics of Transformation in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID3946802
AuthorsJo Beall (0000-0002-1898-3872), Hassim (0000-0002-5816-1291), Shireen Hassim, Alison Todes (0000-0002-0719-8887)
Year1989
Volume33
Issue1
Pages30-56
Publication date1989-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-7789 • E-ISSN: 1466-4380
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/fr.1989.29
OpenAlexW1987999648
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited14

engaged in a creative dialogue to formulate policies to effect the transition to a 'post-apartheid' state and to adopt forms of organization and strategy consistent with and complementary to such policy. Until recently, however, a consideration of gender has been lacking in this exciting debate.' This is not simply the result of a dominant androcentric discourse, but must also be attributed to gaps and shortcomings in the analysis of women's oppression in South Africa. We argue that the way in which political organizations have conceptualized women's oppression and their role in struggle has limitations. This has implications for the way in which women participate in struggle, for the way in which women's interests and needs are addressed in the course of struggle, and for development policy in a 'post-apartheid' future. This paper is a constructive critique of the 'woman question' position, which has been adopted by the progressive movement in SA. This position is broadly based on the classical socialist position on women's oppression, namely that women's oppression will be eliminated in the course of the transition to socialism. In strategic terms, this involves women's concerns being subordinated to, rather than included as part of, struggles to achieve socialism in SA. Where the emphasis is on national liberation, women's struggles are likewise subsumed. We offer, as an alternative, a socialist-feminist position which sees women's struggles as a legitimate and integral part of broader struggles, which tranform not

Bit (key) · Communism · Constructive · Economics · Feminism · Human sexuality · Liberation movement · Oppression · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance) · Socialism · Sociology · State (computer science) · Transformation (genetics) · Anthropology · Cultural Studies · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · South African History and Culture