Gender Protests and Feminist Networks in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe

• In Event: 121 - Section on Marxist Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Social Movements II

Abstract

A feminist reading of women’s activism in Zimbabwe reveals gender dynamics in periods of social change, transition, and political contestation. Women’s activism takes three forms. One encompasses political movements in which women attempt to change the structural and legal terrain of their lives as women. Another entails social movements to enhance women’s opportunities for social and economic justice. The third includes direct action in the form of women’s street protests for daily living needs including housing, healthcare, and municipal services. These three types of activism have been part of the cultural life of Zimbabwe for decades as women participated in nationalist and socialist movements for independence. A Marxist reading of women’s activism reveals women who believe that autonomous decision-making is fundamental to women’s quality of life. The Marxist liberation struggle in Zimbabwe ignited a spark of women’s activism and post-colonial disappointments over limited gender equality and women’s economic advancement have fueled the flame. This paper analyzes women’s activism in Zimbabwe in concert with feminist networks in the U.S., Canada, and Britain for its strength, retreat, and reemergence from 1980 to 2015, the neoliberal era. Using a social-reproduction framework, this paper argues that local and global feminist networks have created spaces from which women demand social and economic justice, particularly in reference to their daily struggles around production and reproduction.

Keywords: contested spaces, feminist networks, political struggle, women, Zimbabwe

Author

• Lorna Lueker Zukas, National University