African filmmaking has been affected by histories of colonialism and imperialism, and in South Africa the effects of apartheid further complicate the politics of how people are represented in film. Over the last few decades, many African filmmakers have striven to...
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“The women of Marikana are marching because they want to see justice…” | by Lauren Paremoer
The vivid images of the Marikana Massacre and its aftermath are strikingly different from those capturing previous strikes by South African mineworkers. What is noticeable is the presence of large numbers of women – not all of them mineworkers – acting in support of...
Polygamy: A Freezing of Culture | by Mazibuko K. Jara
Some five years ago, the overwhelming majority of both rural and urban South Africans would have baulked at the idea of polygamy. However, it seems that polygamy has regained some legitimacy and currency. Together with President Zuma, celebrities such as the composer...
The Spear: SA won’t overcome fear by surrendering to it | by Alexander Matthews
Alexander Matthews says ANC trying to place a taboo on discussions of Zuma's version of masculinity Brett Murray's defaced The Spear stands as a monument to intolerance. After thousands of ANC supporters marched to the Goodman where it had once been on display, the...
Taming transgressions: South African nation building and `body politics’ | by Antje Schuhmann
Abstract This text questions the support that Caster Semenya received in the name of patriotism, arguing that the heteronormative and patriarchal home base of nationalism, its gendered matrix so to say, reflects a dilemma: the popular support for Semenya reinforced...
Rocky Road to Gender Equality in Latin America | by Erika Guevara-Rosas
The increased participation of women in traditional politics in Latin America has made headlines for several years now. Last month, The New York Times published an analysis of the 2012 Women in Politics Survey of UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union by Luisita...
US-backed Egyptian junta massacres peaceful protesters | By Johannes Stern
On Sunday evening the Egyptian military launched a brutal attack on protesters in Cairo, killing at least 36 and injuring hundreds. The crackdown happened after a peaceful demonstration by 10,000 protesters headed from Shubra, a working class suburb of Cairo, to the...


