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