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DEMOCRACY TODAY
types of life and career choices that this newly emerging category of
young women [3] pursues. Of importance is the institutional change
that is heralded with this demographic shift. Not only are the cultural
institutions of legitimacy absconded as new forms of rules and regulations
negotiated, but also a new kind of assertiveness among young
women is being witnessed. Young African women are more aware of
their femininity and in doing this project a new kind of consciousness
which hinges on a slight modification of what I have conceptualised
in an earlier article (Achieng’ 2006) as the three C’s, that is, Capacity,
Capability and Cooperation. In short, their new consciousness capitalises
on the power within [4] – translated as these 3 C’s.
Nonetheless, an analysis of the 3 C’s that young African women
exhibit necessarily means that first and foremost, we have to analyse
the paths to power that young African women have to negotiate with.
Secondly, an analysis of how these paths to power coupled to the
cultural legitimacy become the persisting forms of exclusion is called
for. Lastly, how, amidst these contravening processes, young African
women are able to negotiate forms of inclusion albeit on the periphery
through the exercise of the 3 C’s , forms further analytic interest.
Further Forms of Social Exclusion: Paths to Power
Studies on power [5] demonstrate that society is constituted on a power
maze principally known as the power web. Certain prerequisites
underscore an understanding of this power web. Of importance are:
i.
the rules of entry i.e. who is allowed in, under what conditions and
why. Here the line of inquiry is what capabilities do they bring with
3
CODESRIA has carried out a number of initial research inquiries into this demographic
shifts. For an analysis see the reports of the Child and Youth Studies Institute 2004 that
focused on Children and Youth in the labour market and a conference on Youth in the
Global South held in 2006. For a current analysis on the youth bulge see documents
available from the Child, Youth and Family Studies Programme of the Human Science
Research Council.
4
See select bibliography for reference that informed this point
5
See select bibliography for reference that informed this point