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