Yaliwe Clarke
South Africa / Zambia
I seek to create spaces in which African women engage in authentic dialogue about our
experiences of making changes in our lives that both embrace our power and
challenge oppression.
I currently work at the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology
and Linguistics, University of Cape Town. My work entails both teaching
undergraduate and post-graduate courses about gender justice in various
African contexts and issues. In addition to this, as a board member, I contribute
to the work of Isis Women’s Cross Cultural Exchange Institute (WICCE), Uganda,
and the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT), Cape
Town. I also sit on editorial boards of three journals – Feminist Africa; BUWA:
A Journal on African Women’s Experiences; and Development in Practice.
Inspired by the human ability to overcome adversities and suffering, my work
as a feminist activist has involved noticing and challenging gender inequalities
that confront African women. I seek to create spaces in which African women
engage in authentic dialogue about our experiences of making changes in
our lives that both embrace our power and challenge oppression. More to Life
facilitation techniques enable me to integrate regular self-reflective exercises
and meditative practices into the workshops and meetings I facilitate. Buddhist
philosophies, the conscious use of breath and meditation help me to draw on
and manifest ‘deep peace’.
In the courses I teach at the University of Cape Town, I examine stereotypes
about gender and work that are set in place through historical processes in
African contexts. I focus on women’s and critical men’s movements that have
emerged in the context of political struggles against various forms of social
injustice. I pay particular attention to the ways in which certain kinds of political
action is informed by theories about feminism. I am particularly interested
in feminist critiques of development, conflict, and peace processes (including
women’s activism, the formation of movements, and trans-national alliances),
in order to offer new approaches to theories on gender and development in
African contexts.
Prior to joining the AGI, I interacted with African women’s rights activists
and peace-builders/conflict resolution practitioners and gained extensive
continental training experience in gender and peace-building. As a part-time
lecturer at the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation Peace Centre in Kitwe, Zambia,
I developed a gender and conflict module that formed part of a diploma and
certificate course on peace-building.
Also, as a Senior Project Officer at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, I coauthored a Peace-building Training Manual for African Women in DecisionMaking and conducted various training workshops for women in civil society
and government in West, East and Southern Africa. Over the last nine years,
I have worked with a range of civil society organisations in Southern Africa,
notably: Zambia Civic Education Association (as Project Coordinator);
Zambia Association for Research and Development (as ordinary member and
Chairperson); the Southern African Conflict Prevention Network (as Network
Coordinator); Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation; and the Centre for Conflict.
My research interests include developing new analytic voices around the
meaning of ‘gendered security’ for women in diverse settings (slums, refugee
settlements, migrant routes, conflict zones, and peacekeeping initiatives). I am
convinced that these voices are embedded in African women’s lived realities
of ‘peace and ‘security’.
VPS II
. 39