The Gender Politics Of The Namibian Liberation Struggle

Women's contributions against apartheid under the auspices of the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO and their personal experiences in exile take center stage in this study. Male and female leadership structures in exile are analysed whilst the sexual politics in the refugee camps and the public imagery of female representation in SWAPO's nationalism receive special attention. The party's public pronouncements of women empowerment and gender equality are compared to the actual implementations of gender politics during and after the liberation struggle.

The study also examines the changes in women's lives caused by the arrival of Christianity, colonialism, the cash economy and modern values. Using the life story method it allows women to tell their stories themselves and present their own understanding of their situation. The study also tries to outline women's position in the independent Namibia where gender equality is guaranteed by the constitution but not in practice.

This study investigates the experiences of women journalists during the last phase of Namibia's liberation struggle against South African rule. Black or white, women journalists in Namibia made significant contributions to the liberation cause -including the founding of a high-profiled newspaper -whilst others worked for media sympathetic to the apartheid government. Based on interviews and deploying feminist media theory, Maria Mboono Nghidinwa pays close attention to the gendered power relationships in the newsrooms of newspapers and radio stations at the time. She looks at the intense political intimidations which targeted women and, in particular, the constraints experienced by black women journalists.

Womens contributions against apartheid under the auspices of the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO and their personal experiences in exile take center stage in this study. Male and female leadership structures in exile are analysed whilst the sexual politics in the refugee camps and the public imagery of female representation in SWAPOs nationalism receive special attention. The partys public pronouncements of women empowerment and gender equality are compared to the actual implementations of gender politics during and after the liberation struggle.

Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History brings together the work of experienced academics and a new wave of young Namibian historians - architects of the past - who are working on a range of public history and heritage projects, from late nineteenth century resistance to the use of songs, from the role of gender in SWAPO's camps to memorialisation, and from international solidarity to aspects of the history of Kavango and Caprivi. In a culturally and politically diverse democracy such as Namibia, there are bound to be different perspectives on the past, and history will be as plural as the history-tellers. The chapters in this book reflect this diversity, and combine to create a remarkable collection of divergent voices, providing alternative perspectives on the past. Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History writes 'forgotten' people into history; provides a reading of the past that reflects the tensions and competing identities that pervaded 'the struggle'; and deals with 'heritage that hurts'.

Williams traces the South West Africa People's Organization of Namibia across three decades in exile in Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola.

Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History brings together the work of experienced academics and a new wave of young Namibian historians - architects of the past. They are working on a range of public history and heritage projects, from late nineteenth century resistance to the use of songs; from the role of gender in SWAPO’s camps to memorialisation; and from international solidarity to aspects of the history of Kavango and Caprivi. In a culturally and politically diverse democracy such as Namibia, there are bound to be different perspectives on the past, and history will be as plural as the history-tellers. The chapters in this book reflect this diversity, and combine to create a remarkable collection of divergent voices, providing alternative perspectives on the past. The book writes ‘forgotten’ people into history; provides a reading of the past that reflects the tensions and competing identities that pervaded ‘the struggle’; and deals with ‘heritage that hurts’.