Religion and Gender in Global Perspective: The Fragility of Justice in South Africa

• In Event: 132 - Section on Sociology of Religion Paper Session. Religion in Global Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines how faith-based NGOs in South Africa that were involved in overturning apartheid have also addressed gender-based violence (GBV). The theoretical goal of this paper is to provide a process-based account of the contingent ways in which religion plays a significant role in transforming unjust social structures, and what factors may limit its capacity to do so. People in the organizations perceive the issue of GBV to be connected to their mission to transform society. For some, the imperative of justice compels them to recognize gender as a relevant category for social engagement. For others, particular theological orientations prevent them from perceiving that GBV, too, is linked to unjust social systems. While all condemn GBV, the heart of the matter is whether they perceive this issue to be connected to broader questions of justice, as they had articulated around the violence of apartheid. I focus on the origins of their awareness of GBV in order to trace over time how the systems of belief that motivated their involvement in anti-apartheid action are, and are not, transposed to GBV. This analysis contributes to a growing body of scholarship concerning the persistent and multivalent relevance of religion across the globe; work on the intersections of race, class, and gender in the constitution of social inequality and violence; and the possibilities and constraints faced over time by organizations whose missions are, at least in part, to transform society.

Author

• Meredith C. Whitnah, University of Notre Dame