“WALKING THE WALK”? THE STATE AND GENDER TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE “NEW” SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT

This paper engages feminist debates about gender and the state through the specific context of post-apartheid South Africa. It outlines briefly recent feminist debates about gender and the state. These debates, which tend to focus on the “in or against the state” dilemma, tend to be west-centred and therefore ignorant of the experiences of women in post-colonial (and post-apartheid) contexts. This paper explores how the current context in South Africa might inform these debates. It traces the transformation of both gender politics and the state, with particular reference to the construction of citizenship, governance and state structures. It is suggested that at present it is politically expedient for feminist and women's groups in South Africa to engage the state, since the state also approaches “women”. Currently, the state is perceived as an appropriate space for gender politics and for effecting significant social and political change. Although South Africa is notable in its attempts to effect structural change regarding gender equality during the process of state transformation, many profound problems still persist. Despite this, the dynamic ways in which women in South Africa are creating coalitions across difference and engaging the state might hold lessons for activists elsewhere.