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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Women, 'Tradition' and Reconstruction in South Africa
Author:Walker, CherrylISNI
Year:1994
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:21
Issue:61
Period:September
Pages:347-358
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:African National Congress (South Africa)
women
traditions
Women's Issues
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Politics and Government
Development and Technology
Economics and Trade
Equality and Liberation
Cultural Roles
nationalism
Ethnic and Race Relations
Education and Training
Sex Roles
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056249408704064
Abstract:This article discusses the tension between the ANC's commitment to gender equality and its engagement within the new government of South Africa with 'the politics of traditionalism'. These politics have been most evident in the struggle to out-manoeuvre the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), while convincing it to participate in the elections, a struggle in which the Zulu king has been the preeminent (but not the only) representative of the resurgent traditionalism that the ANC has been attempting to defuse and co-opt. The 'tradition' being negotiated is fundamentally patriarchal, and the author argues that the two goals - gender equality and accommodating 'tradition' - are ultimately imcompatible. Further, given the limitations on the way in which gender equality is perceived within the ANC, as well as the absence of a politically powerful mass women's movement on the ground, it is likely that, in seeking to manage this incompatibility, the ANC-led government will compromise or delay its commitment to gender equality. This outcome is particularly likely in respect of the land reform programme. Bibliogr., sum.
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