The Politics of Race and Gender in the South African Armed Forces: Issues, Challenges, Lessons

Heinecken, Lindy; Cowling, Noëlle

doi:10.1080/14662040903375414

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This change is consistent with transformations to the South African military, which in 1994 integrated the former South African Defence Forces (SADF) with revolutionary freedom fighters from uMkhonto we Sizwe, the liberation army of the African National Congress, and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army of the Pan African Congress, in addition to four homeland armies. The incorporation of these military forces ‘was one of the most far reaching and complex undertakings in public reform in post-apartheid South Africa’, bringing former wartime enemies together to create the South African National Defence Forces (see Heinecken and van der Waag-Cowling, 2009: 518). The Seeker technology was similarly rebranded as a tool for democracy, though the touted new uses of the drone did not become significant in South Africa.…”

Section: Democratic Drones and Wildlife Protection: Revealing Nationa...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Apartheid drone: Infrastructures of militarism and the hidden genealogies of the South African Seeker

Chandler

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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In the 1980s and 1990s, South Africa was considered a global leader in the development of unmanned aircraft largely because of the Seeker, a drone created by the state-controlled armaments industry during apartheid. This article examines how military power, state-enforced racial hierarchies, and global exchange are made visible and obscured through the drone’s unmanned system. It advances the concept of drone infrastructure, which updates theories of the drone that focus on optics and verticality. Drone infrastructure studies the web of relations organized by aircraft systems and articulates how the interplay of visibility and invisibility affectively and materially structures drone systems. The study starts with the ‘invisible’ transfer of drone technology that led to the Seeker, pointing to a shared genealogy of warfare linking South Africa, Israel, and the United States, as well as the ‘secret’ use of the Seeker in the South African Border Wars. It then turns to how, in the post-apartheid era, the Seeker was refashioned as a technology of national protection and democratic advance, a ‘visible’ symbol of the new state. Contemporary efforts to use drone aircraft in South Africa for wildlife conservation in the 2010s aim to overwrite these earlier uses, describing the air platform as international aid. Yet, the Seeker’s militarized infrastructure continues to shape drone use and the logics of white supremacy persist in the networks of relations organized by contemporary drone use in South Africa.

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Section: Democratic Drones and Wildlife Protection: Revealing Nationa...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Apartheid drone: Infrastructures of militarism and the hidden genealogies of the South African Seeker

Chandler

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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“…Gender relations within the SANDF changed dramatically with the adoption of a new Constitution for the Republic of South Africa in 1996, which forbid all forms of discrimination in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation. Accordingly, since 1997, women have been allowed to serve in the infantry, artillery and armoured corps in the army, as well as in the air force as pilots and in the navy (Heinecken & van der Waag‐Cowling, ). Political pressure to increase the presence of women across ranks and branches and the implementation of the Department of Defence's Gender Mainstreaming Policy in 2007 compelled the SANDF to take gender equality seriously.…”

Section: Gender Integration In the South African Militarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rapid increase of female soldiers after the end of apartheid occurred parallel to the complete reversal of the racial composition of the army — from a mostly ‘white’ army in the early 1990s to an increasingly ‘black’ army from the mid‐1990s onwards with over 70 per cent of SANDF identifying as ‘Africans’ in 2009 (Heinecken & van der Waag‐Cowling, , p. 520). The majority of women who joined the armed forces after the end of apartheid were thus ‘Africans’ or ‘coloured’, hence the ones who previously had been ‘doubly’ discriminated, both for their gender and for their race.…”

Section: Gender Integration In the South African Militarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Regendering the South African army: Inclusion, reversal and displacement

Wilén

Heinecken

2018

Gender Work & Organization

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This article examines the extent to which the participation of women in the military furthers or hinders the displacement of gendered dichotomies and whether this brings about more transformative change to military institutions. Based on research of the South African National Defence Force, the authors argue that although typical 'feminine' qualities at times are valued in peace operations, this has not contributed to a transformation of gender relations in the military. The authors identify the lack of change as due to a deep-seated patriarchal culture in South Africa and essentialist discourses that affect women's identities as soldiers. Three discourses are identified in the interviews which accentuate this phenomenon: civilianizing, sexualizing and victimizing discourses. While these discourses are not necessarily negative to female soldiers' inclusion in the military, the focus on differences related to gender stereotypes renders a displacement of gendered hierarchies and consequently also a regendered military difficult.

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“…This meant that the SANDF had to revise its policies that previously restricted the career paths of women. Accordingly, since 1997, women have been allowed to serve in the infantry, artillery, and armored corps in the Army, as well as in the Air Force as pilots, and in the Navy on ships and submarines (Heinecken & van der Waag-Cowling, 2009). Over the years, there has been an active attempt to increase the number of women across all ranks and branches.…”

Section: Gender Integration In the Sandf: Findings And Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing the Tensions Evoked by Gender Integration in the Military

Heinecken

2016

Armed Forces & Society

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The South African military has adopted an assertive affirmative action campaign to ensure that women are represented across all ranks and branches. This has brought about new tensions in terms of gender integration, related to issues of equal opportunities and meritocracy as well as the accommodation of gender difference and alternative values. The argument is made that the management of gender integration from a gender-neutral perspective cannot bring about gender equality, as it obliges women to conform to and assimilate masculine traits. This affects women’s ability to function as equals, especially where feminine traits are not valued, where militarized masculinities are privileged and where women are othered in ways that contribute to their subordination. Under such conditions, it is exceedingly difficult for women to bring about a more androgynous military culture espoused by gender mainstreaming initiatives and necessary for the type of missions military personnel are engaged in today.

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The Politics of Race and Gender in the South African Armed Forces: Issues, Challenges, Lessons

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

Apartheid drone: Infrastructures of militarism and the hidden genealogies of the South African Seeker

Apartheid drone: Infrastructures of militarism and the hidden genealogies of the South African Seeker

Regendering the South African army: Inclusion, reversal and displacement

Conceptualizing the Tensions Evoked by Gender Integration in the Military

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