Shireen Hassim – författare

This book illustrates why both academic research and policy thinking need to factor-in gender hierarchies and structures if they are to address some of the key challenges of contemporary societies: the widespread informality and insecurity of paid work and the crisis of care.

The transition to democracy in South Africa was one of the defining events in twentieth-century political history. The South African women's movement is one of the most celebrated on the African continent. Shireen Hassim examines interactions between the two as she explores the gendered nature of liberation and regime change. Her work reveals how women's political organizations both shaped, and were shaped by the broader democratic movement. Alternately asserting their political independence and giving precedence to the democratic movement as a whole, women activists proved flexible and remarkably successful in influencing policy. At the same time, their feminism was profoundly shaped by the context of democratic and nationalist ideologies. In reading the last twenty-five years of South African history through a feminist framework, Hassim offers fresh insights into the interactions between civil society, political parties, and the state. Hassim boldly confronts sensitive issues such as the tensions between autonomy and political dependency in feminists' engagement with the African National Congress (ANC) and other democratic movements, and black-white relations within women's organizations. She offers a historically informed discussion of the challenges facing feminist activists during a time of nationalist struggle and democratization.

First formed in the early twentieth century, the ANC Women's League has grown into a leading organization in the women's movement in South Africa. The league has been at the forefront of the nation's century-long transition from an authoritarian state to a democracy that espouses gender equality as a core constitutional value. It has, indeed, always regarded itself as the women's movement, frequently asserting its primacy as a vanguard organization and as the only legitimate voice of the women of South Africa. But, as this deeply insightful book shows, the history of the league is a more complicated affair—it was neither the only women's organization in the political field nor an easy ally for South African feminism.

This ground-breaking Handbook decentres theories of social and political arrangements originating from parochial histories of Europe and North America. It provides critical perspectives on capitalism, states, and political mobilisation, adopting an interdisciplinary approach to key contemporary issues in politics and society.Chapters address decolonial notions of scholarship that build on alternative conceptualizations of political and social practices. Authors explore a range of topics: post-socialist economies and social reproduction; sex testing in sports; black beauty and blackness in a black majority world; conceptualizations of land, property, and extraction through an Indigenous lens; the geopolitics of cities; #meToo in India; queer and labour politics of migration; the non-end of marriage; human rights to care; and gendered, raced, and classed articulations of violence, before turning to rethinking futures. Including insights from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, the Handbook connects the politics of race, class, sexuality, and genderThe Handbook on Politics and Society is an invaluable resource for students and academics in international political science and political sociology. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in politics and anthropology will also benefit from its forward-thinking insights.

This ground-breaking Handbook decentres theories of social and political arrangements originating from parochial histories of Europe and North America. It provides critical perspectives on capitalism, states, and political mobilisation, adopting an interdisciplinary approach to key contemporary issues in politics and society.

Chapters address decolonial notions of scholarship that build on alternative conceptualizations of political and social practices. Authors explore a range of topics: post-socialist economies and social reproduction; sex testing in sports; black beauty and blackness in a black majority world; conceptualizations of land, property, and extraction through an Indigenous lens; the geopolitics of cities; #meToo in India; queer and labour politics of migration; the non-end of marriage; human rights to care; and gendered, raced, and classed articulations of violence, before turning to rethinking futures. Including insights from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, the Handbook connects the politics of race, class, sexuality, and gender

The Handbook on Politics and Society is an invaluable resource for students and academics in international political science and political sociology. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in politics and anthropology will also benefit from its forward-thinking insights.

This book illustrates why both academic research and policy thinking need to factor-in gender hierarchies and structures if they are to address some of the key challenges of contemporary societies: the widespread informality and insecurity of paid work and the crisis of care.

This book illustrates why both academic research and policy thinking need to factor-in gender hierarchies and structures if they are to address some of the key challenges of contemporary societies: the widespread informality and insecurity of paid work and the crisis of care.

The re-emergence of debates on the decolonisation of knowledge has revived interest in the National Question, which began over a century ago and remains unresolved. Tensions that were suppressed and hidden in the past are now being openly debated. Despite this, the goal of one united nation living prosperously under a constitutional democracy remains elusive. This edited volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question, especially during the apartheid years, and goes on to discuss its relevance for South Africa today and in the future. Instead of imposing a particular understanding of the National Question, the editors identified a number of political traditions and allowed contributors the freedom to define the question as they believed appropriate – in other words, to explain what they thought was the Unresolved National Question. This has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions. The volume is structured in two parts. The first examines four foundational traditions: Marxism-Leninism (the Colonialism of a Special Type thesis); the Congress tradition; the Trotskyist tradition; and Africanism. The second part explores the various shifts in the debate from the 1960s onwards, and includes chapters on Afrikaner nationalism, ethnic issues, black consciousness, feminism, workerism and constitutionalism. The editors hope that by revisiting the debates not popularly known among the scholarly mainstream, this volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.

The re-emergence of debates on the decolonisation of knowledge has revived interest in the National Question, which began over a century ago and remains unresolved. Tensions that were suppressed and hidden in the past are now being openly debated. Despite this, the goal of one united nation living prosperously under a constitutional democracy remains elusive. This edited volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question, especially during the apartheid years, and goes on to discuss its relevance for South Africa today and in the future. Instead of imposing a particular understanding of the National Question, the editors identified a number of political traditions and allowed contributors the freedom to define the question as they believed appropriate – in other words, to explain what they thought was the Unresolved National Question. This has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions. The volume is structured in two parts. The first examines four foundational traditions: Marxism-Leninism (the Colonialism of a Special Type thesis); the Congress tradition; the Trotskyist tradition; and Africanism. The second part explores the various shifts in the debate from the 1960s onwards, and includes chapters on Afrikaner nationalism, ethnic issues, black consciousness, feminism, workerism and constitutionalism. The editors hope that by revisiting the debates not popularly known among the scholarly mainstream, this volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.

The xenophobic attacks that started in Alexandra, Johannesburg in May 2008 before quickly spreading around the country caused an outcry across the world and raised many fundamental questions: Of what profound social malaise is xenophobia – and the violence that it inspires – a symptom? Have our economic and political choices created new forms of exclusion that fuel anger and distrust? What consequences does the emergence of xenophobia hold for the idea of an equal, non-racial society as symbolised by a democratic South Africa?On 28 May 2008 the Faculty of Humanities in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg convened an urgent colloquium that focused on searching for short and long-term solutions. Nearly twenty individuals – mostly Wits academics from a variety of disciplines, but also two student leaders, a journalist and a bishop – addressed the unfolding violence in ways that were conversant with the moment, yet rooted in scholarship and ongoing research.Go Home or Die Here emanates directly from the colloquium. It hopes to make sense of the nuances and trajectories of building a democratic society out of a deeply divided and conflictual past, in the conditions of global recession, heightening inequalities and future uncertainty. The authors hoped to pose questions that would lead both to research and to more informed, reflective forms of public action. With extensive photographs by award-winning photographer Alon Skuy, who covered the violence for The Times newspaper, the volume is passionate and engaged, and aims to stimulate reflection, debate and activism among concerned members of a broad public.

In 2022 Wits University Press marked its centenary, making it the oldest, most established university press in sub-Saharan Africa. While in part modelled on scholarly publishers from the global North, it has had to contend with the constraints of working under global South conditions: marginalisation within the university, budgetary limitations, small local markets, unequal access to international sales channels, and the privileging of English language publishing over indigenous languages. This volume explores what the Press has achieved, and what its modes of reinvention might look like. In widening and deepening our understanding of the Press as an example of a global South scholarly publisher, this volume asks how publishing can contribute to a broader understanding of Southern knowledge production. Featuring contributions from scholars, publishers and authors this multi-voiced volume showcases the history of the Press's publishing activities over 100 years: from documenting its evolution through book covers and giving credence to some of the leading black intellectuals and writers of the early 20th century and the success of those works in spite of their authors' racial marginalisation, to the role of women, both in publishing and in the spaces afforded to women's writing on the Press's list. The collection concludes with essays by contemporary authors who detail not only their experiences of working with Southern publishers, but also the politics and influences governing their decisions to choose the Press over a Northern publisher. Publishing from the South shows the strategies deployed by the Press to professionalise Southern knowledge making, and in the process demonstrating how university presses in the global South support the scholarly missions of their universities for both local and global audiences.

In 2022 Wits University Press marked its centenary, making it the oldest, most established university press in sub-Saharan Africa. While in part modelled on scholarly publishers from the global North, it has had to contend with the constraints of working under global South conditions: marginalisation within the university, budgetary limitations, small local markets, unequal access to international sales channels, and the privileging of English language publishing over indigenous languages. This volume explores what the Press has achieved, and what its modes of reinvention might look like. In widening and deepening our understanding of the Press as an example of a global South scholarly publisher, this volume asks how publishing can contribute to a broader understanding of Southern knowledge production. Featuring contributions from scholars, publishers and authors this multi-voiced volume showcases the history of the Press’s publishing activities over 100 years: from documenting its evolution through book covers and giving credence to some of the leading black intellectuals and writers of the early 20th century and the success of those works in spite of their authors’ racial marginalisation, to the role of women, both in publishing and in the spaces afforded to women’s writing on the Press’s list. The collection concludes with essays by contemporary authors who detail not only their experiences of working with Southern publishers, but also the politics and influences governing their decisions to choose the Press over a Northern publisher. Publishing from the South shows the strategies deployed by the Press to professionalise Southern knowledge making, and in the process demonstrating how university presses in the global South support the scholarly missions of their universities for both local and global audiences.

Whatever the other shortcomings of representative democracy in the world today, one issue that remains only partially resolved is the political participation and policy impact of one half of the population -- women. This book examines this question in the context of two countries, South Africa and Uganda, which in this regard have accomplished much more than most (including the Western democracies).How did women achieve some 30% representation in both national and local political institutions in these countries? How far did women's mobilization in civil society play a part? How sustainable are these gains likely to be? And of equal importance, there are the questions around the impact of women politicians on policy. Here the volume examines two litmus test pieces of legislation -- around land in Uganda and gender violence in South Africa. What emerges is that the political routes to increased female participation vary and the solidity of the gains made depends much on the strength of the gender-equity lobby in society at large. What is more, participation does not necessarily translate into effective policy influence enhancing the position and interests of women.