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The South African Women's Movement: The Roles of Feminism and Multiracial Cooperation in the Struggle for Women's Rights

Author: Amber Lenser

Vol Master of Arts in History, University of Arkansas, Frayetteville, 2019, pp. 101

The author argues that the historical preoccupation with the anti-apartheid struggle, which has also focused on the role of men as agents of change, has obscured both the role of women from all races and classes who joined in the national struggle, and women’s campaigning for their own rights. She uses oral histories, South African newspaper reports and materials from organisations such as the Black Sash to show women’s influence on legislation passed under and immediately after apartheid. She also notes how women created their own political spaces and, at times, transcended race and class divides.