Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
them and how does it fit to the established power web/disrupt the
power web
an understanding of shifting power boundaries where of necessity is
a comprehension of who the guardians and opinion makers are. In
short understanding the shakers, breakers and makers.
in further understanding the power boundaries a comprehension
of the role of mentors/protectors is crucial as points of reference in
negotiating entry
the communicative practice and the rules of engagement i.e the secret
codes of behaviour, language and conduct
an acknowledgement of the ‘invisible hand of power’ and thereby
strategically positioning oneself in order to access this power
These paths to power have worked to the contrary in allowing
young African women critical access and thus enabling them partake
fully in governance issues of the day. Despite these persistent forms of
social exclusion, young African women using their agency show ingenuity
in negotiating new institutional forms and have thus created for
themselves transformative spaces, or new forms on social inclusion,
albeit on the periphery. These are:
165
YOUNG AFRICAN WOMEN
ENGAGE THE PUBLIC
SPHERE; PROSPECTS FOR
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY
INQUIRY?
A. Capacity Development –
Enhancement of Individual Endowments
Roseline M. Achieng
The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
(UNRISD) report [6] pinpoints to many of the gains that women and
especially young women have accomplished.. The report demonstrates
that young African women have made great leaps in following career
choices that were previously reserved for men only. Not only have
they excelled in these fields, but they are also projecting a new kind of
professionalism that significantly departs from the ‘old boys club’ rites
of passage and rules of engagement. Despite these individual endowments,
dismayingly, young women face new structural discrepancies
which they are either unaware of or are ill-equipped to challenge.
6
See http://www.unrisd.org/publications