Shifting discourses – from gender to feminisms: Can global instruments impact on the lives of African women?

Tallis, Vicci; Mathonsi, Claire

doi:10.1080/10130950.2018.1460109

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This will also entail enhancing the capacity and skills, beyond narrow framings of gender as ‘tick box’ additions, to understanding the broader social and political context, and being able to develop and implement more gender-transformative processes and interventions, and further critical engagement with power systems [ 18 , 29 , 89 ]. This builds on the arguments by feminists who call for a focus on transformation of gender power relations, as well including women’s movements in policymaking [ 18 , 63 , 90 ]. Taking this forward is urgent, also terms of developing gender-responsive transformation, particularly in the context of COVID-19 [ 12 , 83 , 91 , 92 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How gender is socially constructed in policy making processes: a case study of the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa

Jacobs

George

2023

Int J Equity Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Gender equality remains an outstanding global priority, more than 25 years after the landmark Beijing Platform for Action. The disconnect between global health policy intentions and implementation is shaped by several conceptual, pragmatic and political factors, both globally and in South Africa. Actor narratives and different framings of gender and gender equality are one part of the contested nature of gender policy processes and their implementation challenges. The main aim of this paper is to foreground the range of policy actors, describe their narratives and different framings of gender, as part exploring the social construction of gender in policy processes, using the Adolescent Youth Health Policy (AYHP) as a case study. Methods A case study design was undertaken, with conceptual underpinnings combined from gender studies, sociology and health policy analysis. Through purposive sampling, a range of actors were selected, including AYHP authors from government and academia, members of the AYHP Advisory Panel, youth representatives from the National Department of Health Adolescent and Youth Advisory Panel, as well as adolescent and youth health and gender policy actors, in government, academia and civil society. Qualitative data was collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 30 policy actors between 2019 and 2021. Thematic data analysis was used, as well as triangulation across both respondents, and the document analysis of the AYHP. Results Despite gender power relations and more gender-transformative approaches being discussed during the policy making process, these were not reflected in the final policy. Interviews revealed an interrelated constellation of diverse and juxtaposed actor gender narratives, ranging from framing gender as equating girls and women, gender as inclusion, gender as instrumental, gender as women’s rights and empowerment and gender as power relations. Some of these narrative framings were dominant in the policy making process and were consequently included in the final policy document, unlike other narratives. The way gender is framed in policy processes is shaped by actor narratives, and these diverse and contested discursive constructions were shaped by the dynamic interactions with the South Africa context, and processes of the Adolescent Youth Health Policy. These varied actor narratives were further contextualised in terms of reflections of what is needed going forward to advance gender equality in adolescent and youth health policy and programming. This includes prioritising gender and intersectionality on the national agenda, implementing more gender-transformative programmes, as well as having the commitments and capabilities to take the work forward. Conclusions The constellation of actors’ gender narratives reveals overlapping and contested framings of gender and what is required to advance gender equality. Understanding actor narratives in policy processes contributes to bridging the disconnect between policy commitments and reality in advancing the gender equality agenda.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How gender is socially constructed in policy making processes: a case study of the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa

Jacobs

George

2023

Int J Equity Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only critical feminist reflections about the agenda raise questions about its legitimacy, explore new narratives and aim to construct alternative agendas (e.g. Esquivel, 2016;Haysom, 2018;Stuart and Woodroffe, 2016;Tallis and Mathonsi, 2018). However, these analyses also focus on the specific content of the agenda and on the potential effects of the goals and targets, not on the legitimacy of the plan of action as such.…”

Section: The Structure Of the 2030 Agenda: Why What And Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the publication of the agenda in 2015, most critical literature focused on the second and third parts of the document – what and how . For example, on the capitalistic and neoliberal character of the goals (Carroll and Jarvis, 2015; Mediavilla and Garcia-Arias, 2019; Weber, 2017); on the difficulty of measuring the achievements (Fukuda-Parr, 2019; Kapto, 2019; MacFeely, 2019; Ordaz, 2019); on the ambiguity of – and the contradictions between – the goals and targets (Adelman, 2017; Fletcher and Rammelt, 2017; Giannetti et al, 2020; Kedir et al, 2017; Koehler, 2016; Soederberg, 2017); and on the problems that the coordination proposed by the agenda generates (Novitz and Pieraccini, 2020; Pingeot, 2016; Saner et al, 2017; Scheyvens et al, 2016). The research analysing the implementation of the agenda and the achievement of the goals and targets in specific contexts (e.g.…”

Section: The Structure Of the 2030 Agenda: Why What And Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As many scholars have pointed out (e.g. Koehler, 2016; Telleria, 2018, 2021; Telleria, 2020; Weber, 2017), the agenda rarely mentions the past, and systematically glosses over the historical roots of the problems it aims to tackle. However, the past takes centre stage in a single paragraph of the 2030 Agenda.Seventy years ago, an earlier generation of world leaders came together to create the United Nations.…”

Section: Unity Legitimacy and Hegemonymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Diversity vs the 2030 agenda. A deconstructive reading of the United Nations agenda for sustainable development

Tellería

2021

Critical Social Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article analyses the marginal position cultural diversity is granted in the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. Drawing on the work of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida, it analyses and deconstructs the ontological assumptions of the UN's discourse. The inquiry shows that the ontological structure of the UN's agenda creates an essentialist and teleological understanding of history that privileges universality – unity – at the expense of diversity. In this way, the UN's plan of action reproduces what Ernesto Laclau defined as hegemony – a particularity assuming the representation of the totality. The 2030 Agenda naturalises the international power structure designed after World War II and presents it as beneficial for everyone. The article concludes that the 2030 Agenda's ontological assumptions create an inherently ethnocentric understanding of global issues.

show abstract

Getting Back to Society: Rehabilitation of Trafficking in Assam, India

Begum

2020

Journal of Human Trafficking

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Persons, especially Women and Children(UN, 2000). The Protocol calls for prevention of human trafficking, protection and assistance to trafficked victims, and prosecution of perpetrators (Todres, 2006). In this essay, I focus on India and the country's assistance to survivors of trafficking through the Ujjawala (brightness) 1 and Swadhar (reform) 2 schemes. The Government of India describes rehabilitation in the Ujjawala scheme as 'providing safe shelter for victims, with basic inputs of food, clothing, counseling, medical care, legal aid, vocational training, and income generation activities' (Ministry of Women and Child Development, [MWCD], Govt. of India [GoI] & UN Office on Drug and Crime [UNODC], 2008, p. 13). The Ujjawala scheme focuses on trafficking and its prevention, the Swadhar scheme provides aid to women in difficult circumstances, including victims of trafficking. I analyze the assistance provided by two state-run shelters to assist survivors in re-integrating into Indian society. I argue that unless rehabilitation is conceptualized as a right of the survivor and for the survivor, rehabilitation is not possible. Furthermore, I posit that during the 20 years since the Palermo Protocol, states may have established protection programs that address the letter of the law, but still may fall significantly short of addressing the spirit of the law, and fail to provide truly comprehensive victim protection and assistance. The 'rescue and rehabilitation' of trafficking victims approach has been criticized by several authors

show abstract

Shifting discourses – from gender to feminisms: Can global instruments impact on the lives of African women?

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

How gender is socially constructed in policy making processes: a case study of the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa

How gender is socially constructed in policy making processes: a case study of the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa

Diversity vs the 2030 agenda. A deconstructive reading of the United Nations agenda for sustainable development

Getting Back to Society: Rehabilitation of Trafficking in Assam, India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About