Making Southern theory? Gender researchers in South Africa

• Published in: Feminist theory 2016-08, Vol.17 (2), p.191-209
• Main Author: Morrell, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activism; Apartheid; Colonialism; Decolonization; Feminism; Gender; Geopolitics; Imperialism; Marginality; Oppression; Politics; Race; Researchers; Social classes; Social inequality; Theory; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 1464-7001; 1741-2773
• DOI: 10.1177/1464700116645877

This article examines the work of six South African gender researchers working in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It suggests that their work should be understood as situated in terms of politics, educational histories, theoretical connections and transnational engagements. It reflects on whether this work can be considered an example of Southern theory, and in turn suggests that Southern theory should itself be understood in relational terms that acknowledge both geopolitical connection and distance. The researchers who were interviewed by the author all draw on a feminist language and conceptual toolbox initially developed in Northern contexts, but in the recent period modified and extended by engagements with postcolonial and other feminisms. The article shows how South Africa’s repressive political conditions and deep racial and social class inequalities influenced the research. There was a strong link between anti-apartheid activism and research choices which reflected a battle for the inclusion of gender in struggles that prioritised the focus on race and class inequalities. Research was also shaped by the researchers’ relationship to activism and their engagement with marginality stemming from histories of colonialism and imperialism.