The state and civil society in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa : the case of women's movements

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Both democracy and civil society is seen to be dysfunctional in many African countries.Political leaders are not accountable to the people and citizens' participation in thedemocracies is low. Particularly, women have often been neglected both within formalpolitics and the civil society. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate the role of thewomen's movements in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. The study has focused on therelationship between the women's movement and the state, and further addressed the extent towhich the women's movements have been able to direct the state and influence policymakingfor improved women's rights and gender equality in the respective countries.The thesis has found that the relationship between the women's movements and the state inthe three countries inhibits very different characteristics that give rise to varying degrees ofsuccess from the work of the women's movements. Further, the relationship has beensubjected to changes in accordance with the overall political developments in the threecountries. In Uganda and South Africa the political transitions of the mid 1980s and early1990s, each respectively represented a period of good connection and communicationbetween the women's movements and the state. The women's movements were able topresent a strong voice and, thereby, were able to influence the state for the adoption ofnational gender machineries. After the political transitions, the relationship between thewomen's movements and the state in both Uganda and South Africa has, however, becomemore constrained. In South Africa, the debates on women's rights and gender equality havebeen moved from the terrain of the civil society and into the state, leading to a seeminglyweakened voice for the women's movement outside the state. In Uganda, the women'smovement have come to be subjected to pressure for co-optation by the government. Thegovernment does not genuinely uphold a concern for increased women's rights and genderequality, and the women's movement has at times been directly counteracted.Further, in Kenya, the women's movement's relationship with the state is characterised bycompetition rather than communication. The women's movement is subjected to high degreesof repression, attempts of cooptation and silencing from the state, and the women's movementhave been effectively restricted from presenting a strong voice and influence the state to anygreat.The three case- studies illustrates that the political opportunity structures present at aparticular time influence the extent to which women's movements can work effectively indifferent contexts.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University