Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The 2018 International Women's Day lecture and panel discussion is held to celebrate and reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing women across the world with a particular focus on women on the Africa continent. This year event will focus on what Feminism is and is not.
Lecturer:
Professor Pumla Gqola; Dean of Research at Fort Hare University
Panellists:
H.E. Ms Cecilia Julin, Ambassador of Sweden
Dr Brigalia Bam, Chairperson: Thabo Mbeki Foundation
Prof. Siphamandla Zondi, Head: Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria
Background:
"Majority of women in Africa live outside state infrastructure that continues to nurture the ruling class[1]. The women’s movement witnessed during the struggle for independence has lost public visibility. Co-optation; partisan loyalties and corporatist arrangement made the movement ineffectual as women leaders resort to what McFadden calls ‘self-censorship’. These women ‘self-censor’ to express their loyalty because of fear of social and economic exclusion. Today many women’s movements on the continent declare themselves as feminist yet in practice they reinforce patriarchy. This has created a situation where some younger generation of women prefer to distance themselves from the notion of feminism. This public gathering seeks to call scholars, women leaders, activists and general public to an intergenerational discussion on these issues."
The 2018 International Women's Day lecture and panel discussion is held to celebrate and reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing women across the world with a particular focus on women on the Africa continent. This year event will focus on what Feminism is and is not.
Lecturer:
Professor Pumla Gqola; Dean of Research at Fort Hare University
Panellists:
H.E. Ms Cecilia Julin, Ambassador of Sweden
Dr Brigalia Bam, Chairperson: Thabo Mbeki Foundation
Prof. Siphamandla Zondi, Head: Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria
Background:
"Majority of women in Africa live outside state infrastructure that continues to nurture the ruling class[1]. The women’s movement witnessed during the struggle for independence has lost public visibility. Co-optation; partisan loyalties and corporatist arrangement made the movement ineffectual as women leaders resort to what McFadden calls ‘self-censorship’. These women ‘self-censor’ to express their loyalty because of fear of social and economic exclusion. Today many women’s movements on the continent declare themselves as feminist yet in practice they reinforce patriarchy. This has created a situation where some younger generation of women prefer to distance themselves from the notion of feminism. This public gathering seeks to call scholars, women leaders, activists and general public to an intergenerational discussion on these issues."
