Masculinity, citizenship and political objection to compulsory military service in the South African Defence Force, 1978-1990
- Authors: Conway, Daniel John
- Date: 2013-08-15
- Subjects: Conscientious objectors -- South Africa End Conscription Campaign (South Africa) National service -- South Africa Draft -- South Africa South Africa -- Military policy Masculinity -- South Africa South Africa. South African Defense Force Gays in the military -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2601 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008383
- Description: This thesis conceptualises compulsory military service and objection to it as public performative acts that generate gendered and political identity. Conscription was the primary performance of citizenship and masculinity for white men in apartheid South Africa. Conscription was also a key governance strategy both in terms of upholding the authority of the state and in engendering discipline in the white population. Objection to military service was therefore a destabilising and transgressive public act. Competing conceptualisations of masculinity and citizenship are inherent in pro and anti-conscription discourses. The refusal to undertake military service places men outside the accepted means of graduating to ' real' manhood and patriotic citizenship. Although objection can be an iconic and transgressive act, objectors have an essentially ambivalent subjectivity in the public realm. Objectors are 'strangers' in a socially constructed and gendered binary of 'insiders' and 'outsiders' . This ambivalent status creates opportunities but also constraints for the performance of objection. The thesis analyses the effectiveness of objectors' performances and argues that there is a distinction between a radical challenge to hegemonic conceptions of militarised masculinity and citizenship and assimilatory challenges. The tension between radicalism and assimilation comes to the fore in response to the state's attacks on objectors. The militarised apartheid state is defined as not only masculine but heteronormative terms and it is the deployment of sexuality that is its most effective means of stigmatising and restricting the performance of objection. The thesis uses interview material, archival data and case studies and concludes that objectors (and their supporters) weaved multiple narratives into their performances but that as the 1980s progressed, the performance of objection to conscription became assimilatory and this demonstrates the heteronormativity of the state, military service and the public realm. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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A phenomenological study of women primary school heads' experiences as educational leaders in post colonial Zimbabwe
- Authors: Muzvidziwa, Irene
- Date: 2013-06-26
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Zimbabwe Women school administrators -- Zimbabwe School management and organization -- Zimbabwe Women in education -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1949 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008200
- Description: This research study was carried out in order to gain an understanding of the experiences of women primary school heads, their perceptions of their roles as leaders, the challenges they face and how they dealt with them. The study focused on the lived experiences of five women in Zimbabwe's primary schools. Literature relating to the issues and experiences of women in educational leadership within school contexts and the conceptual framework is examined. The importance of leadership has been emphasised in the literature of school effectiveness. Leadership theories tended to emphasise measurability and effectiveness of leadership, oversimplifying the complexity of leadership phenomenon. These features reflect research approach adopted by researchers from a positivist orientation. This study is an in-depth qualitative study conducted along the lines suggested by a phenomenological-interpretivist design with emphasis on rich contextual detail, close attention to individual's lived experience and the bracketing of pre-conceived notions of the phenomenon. Views and experiences based on the participants' perspectives are described through in-depth interviews which were dialogical in nature. Through this approach, I managed to grasp the essences of the lived experiences of women The research highlights the women's perceptions of themselves as educational leaders. What emerges is the variety of approaches to handling challenges. My findings show a rich and diverse culture of creativity in the way participants adopted a problem-solving strategy, which is not reflected in the mainstream leadership. Though educational leadership emerges as a complex phenomenon, with alternative approaches to educational research, there is high potential for increased understanding of woman's leadership, its importance and implications for school. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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