Masculinities and community protests in post-apartheid South Africa

The Society, Work and Development Institute will host a seminar to be presented by Associate Professor Malose Langa.

For the past few years, violent community protests have been spreading across South Africa over access to basic services, such as water, electricity, housing and job opportunities. In this seminar, Langa will draw on two case studies in which in-depth group and individual interviews were conducted with key informants who many were males about violent protests in their communities.

This seminar provides a gendered analysis of community protests by focusing on Connell’s (1995) notion of hegemonic masculinity, which refers to cultural stereotypes of men’s ability to support their wives and children (being a breadwinner), keeping secret lovers, being decisive and having the final say in the house and so forth.

This seminar also discusses the impact of violent community protests on women‘s participation in local politics and lastly how community protests are associated with notions of violent masculinities through blocking roads, singing, brandishing pangas, sticks, guns, burning public buildings, houses of councilors, stoning police officers and looting shops owned by foreign nationals.

All these violent practices draw on the repertories of the struggle against apartheid, which raise questions about the current socio-economic factors that influence young men to become involved in violent community protests.

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