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Issue #72
 Agenda is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and it
seemed only appropriate to celebrate two exciting decades of feminist publishing with a special
edition of the Agenda journal.
It has been an interesting and stimulating 20 years. We have
fought for women's rights as part of the political struggle against apartheid. We have debated
women's reproductive rights, the right (or not) to abortion and HIV/AIDS. We have discussed women's
leadership and how to crack the glass ceiling.
We have tackled taboos, such as homosexuality, and there
have been debates on culture, women's access to land, gender-based violence, economic injustice -
and many more issues than I could possibly list on these pages.
To celebrate our 20-year existence, we decided to publish a
journal that highlights two decades of critical feminist thinking and writing by renowned women's
rights activists and researchers. We trust that this journal will be an apt reflection of the most
important women's rights issues of the past two decades, take stock of Africa's
present women's rights situation and give an outlook into the future.
We hope it will define African feminism today and encourage
debate around the continent's women's movements, women's organising and women's rights. And we
hope it will be instrumental in influencing and shaping policy with regards to gender and women's
rights.
Writers and Poets:
Silvana Barbali, Jane Bennett, Rosabelle Boswell, Lesley-Ann
Brown, Christine Davis, Gertrude Fester, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Alinane Kamlongera, Jenni Karlsson,
Ayanda Kunene, Desiree Lewis, Hannah Lurie, Nompumelelo Magwaza, Zodumo Maphumulo, Noziziwe
Mdlala-Routledge, Nontobeko Mlambo,Seresha Mocktar, Selloane Mokuku, Lokile Molefe, Relebohile
Moletsane, Manana Monareng, Nitasha Moothoo-Padayachie, Nompilo Mseleku, Innocent Batsani Ncube,
Annsilla Nyar, Obododimma Oha, Yewande Omotoso, Kopano Ratele, Elaine Salo, Edythe Shikumo,
Grace Tikambenji Malera, Sandiso Mazibuko, Mercy Wambui, Sarah Ward, Nompumelelo Zuma
Agenda would like to thank the external reviewers for this
journal:
Natalie Adams, Carol Allais, Lizzy Attree, Pamela Jean
Bettis, Thabisile Buthelezi, Marieke Clarke, Brenda Cooper, Aniela Gella, Jane Godia, Ulrike Kistner,
Mokgale Makgopa, Oliver Phillips, Catherine Raissiguier, Vasu Reddy, Rachel Reynolds, Martha Saavedra,
Onalenna Selolwane, Tammy Shefer,Thabona Shoko, Joseph Tamukong, Judith Van Allen
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Written by Noziziwe Mdlala-Routledge
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Global crises and human catastrophes - like wars, global warming, poverty, under-development, the emergence of epidemics like HIV/AIDS - call for decisive leadership and a reassessment of
national and global priorities. They call for the involvement of the people in determining the
vision and values that will guide the leaders in the exercise of power, such as integrity, truth,
transparency, effective communication, inclusive decision-making, accountability and humility.
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Written by Desiree Lewis
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South African writing on gender, identity and difference has fixated on
national dynamics and politics, with some of the most animated
discussions focusing squarely on conferences, institutional dynamics
and research trends in the country (Abrahams, 2003; Barnes, 2002; de la Rey, 1997; Gouws, 1993; Lewis, 1996).
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Written by Patricia Kameri-Mbote
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Concerns about African women's access to, control over and ownership of land and environmental resources have been raised over the years at different but interrelated levels. In this article, the author uses the term environment to mean the natural resources that are part of the space that women operate in.
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Written by Jane Bennett
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‘If violence is done against those who are unreal then, from the perspective of violence, it fails to injure or negate those lives, since those lives are already negated. But they have a strange way of remaining animated and so must be negated again (and again). They cannot be mourned because they are always lost or, rather, never were, and they must be killed, since they seem to live on, stubbornly, in this state of deadness.' (Butler, 2004:33)
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Written by Kopano Ratele
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That no child is born with culture and that what culture entails is internally as well as externally contested along gender, age, rank and other lines, appear to be self-evident facts. Yet, in a world where the discourse of the ‘clash of cultures', for instance, has received such favourable reception, it seems worth reiterating: cultural knowledge and affiliation are clearly significant for how people organise their lives, but culture is a non-genetic, changeable and permanently incomplete system of lessons and acts we get to learn over time and use to navigate our worlds.
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Written by Jenni Karlsson
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Patriarchy is one of the dark and oppressive
features of the apartheid education era (Kallaway, 2002; Unterhalter et al,
1991; Wolpe et al, 1997). This took a variety of forms. The leadership and
management corps in the many segregated Departments of Education in South Africa was overwhelmingly populated by men (National
Education Policy Investigation, 1993).
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Written by Mercy Wambui
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Over the past two decades, there has been
notable progress in the area of media and ICTs on the African continent.
Experts have pointed out a remarkable shift towards democratisation and media
diversity on the continent, which has been partly due to the infusion of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as the internet and
mobile telephony, in traditional media. Alternative and new forms of media,
such as community and privately-owned commercial radio stations, have steadily
emerged and grown in numbers.
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Written by Annsilla Nyar
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This article is a critical examination of
the phenomenon of globalisation and its contradictory effects and impacts on
women workers. It attempts to provide a brief but comprehensive overview of the
strong, unequalising tendencies of globalisation for women in the labour
market, with reference to the issue of ‘exclusion' as a by-product of
inequality. In short, it represents a chronicling of the complicated realities
of the lives of women workers in the global economy, as existing gender
inequalities and power relations interact with those of the market and the
prevailing international economic system. In conclusion, the article argues for
several policy options in the form of a robust level of state intervention to
protect women workers from exploitation, discrimination and suffering.
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Written by Grace Tikambenji Malera
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This article traces the developments in the advancement of
African women's reproductive rights over the last two decades based on The
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of
Women (African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, 2005). It questions the
Protocol's value to women's reproductive rights, especially in the context of
HIV/AIDS, which disproportionately affects women. The paper argues that, after
the adoption of the Protocol, it is important not to lose sight of its
shortcomings and the challenges which may face its effective implementation, as
these significantly detract from its potential as an effective tool for
advancing women's rights.
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Written by Rosabelle Boswell and Silvana Barbali
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This article discusses the dynamic nature of migration and
emphasises changes in research objectives towards more subjective and
genderaware approaches. It highlights the role of previous immigration policy
in South Africa
and draws attention to issues that have recently become prominent in migration
research and literature. The authors note the local shift in migration research
from internal to international migration and identify future trends in research
and theory. They argue that a more subjective and multi-scalar analysis of
migrant experiences will emerge in the coming years, and more research will be
conducted on the links between migration and diversity.
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Written by Relebohile Moletsane
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‘The girl child of today ... needs to be nurtured in an
enabling environment, where her spiritual, intellectual and material needs for
survival, protection and development are met and her equal rights safeguarded.'
(United Nations, 1995) South Africa's
legislative framework is internationally hailed as conducive to democracy in
general, and to gender equality in particular
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Written by Gertrude Fester
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I wish to explore to what extent African women's human
rights and quest for citizenship has been achieved over the past 20 years
(1987- 2007), with the main focus on South Africa. Much has happened: in 1987, South
Africa had a minority, white government and
a state of emergency with thousands imprisoned. Twenty years later, there is a
progressive constitution, and the number of women in political office has
progressively increased. Up until 1997, there were no women in the top African
leadership, and currently Liberia
has its first woman president, Mozambique
has a woman prime minister, and both South
Africa and Zimbabwe
have women deputy presidents.
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Written by Elaine Salo
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Agenda has come of age - and in 20 years, the articles
published in the journal have closely reflected the gendered issues that have
surfaced in the country. The Agenda journal was the initiative of a Natal-based1
women's collective whose scholar-activist members were located across the
academy and civil society organisations. The first issue of Agenda was launched
in 1987 amidst a national State of Emergency
as social protests against the state were intensified. Agenda played a key role
in shaping the conceptual tools and the subjects of South African feminisms,
providing the space to reflect upon the centrality of women and gender in the struggle
for citizenship and democracy.
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Written by Agenda collective
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‘Agenda aims to provide a forum for comment, discussion and
debate on all aspects of women's lives. [...] We believe that women in South
Africa experience exploitation and
oppression on the basis of their class, race and gender. In order to eradicate
women's oppression, we need to struggle on all of these fronts. Women also have
to take up issues of their specific oppression as part of broader workplace, community
and political struggles.'
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Written by AGENDA
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Agenda celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2007 - a milestone
that heralds the beginning of a new phase of audience engagement, organisation
maturity and a serious commitment to increasing the quality and impact of our
work. We therefore take the liberty of introducing to our readers the broader
scale of our work which includes:
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Issue #72 
