Towards understanding land rights in urban areas : a study of women in Marikana informal settlement in Kwa-Thema, Ekurhuleni

Abstract: Women‟s activism and the forms of patriarchal repression women experience within landless movements are widely celebrated in literature. Building on this work, the paper calls attention to the understanding of the nature of space and how it affects or shapes women's participation within and outside landless movements. Using Doreen Massey‟s notion of space, this paper critiques scholarly work on social movements which takes on the view that women experience patriarchal domination within these spaces of participation as opposed to the broader community. It is important to realise that women activists have power and are able to resist this repression. The tactics they employ to destabilise patriarchy, such as being vocal, and taking on leadership positions, are informed by knowledge of how their landless organisations and communities operate. Therefore, it is crucial for research to start recognising how women‟s activism is affected by and connected to the broader patriarchal society from which their respective movements have emerged from. The paper presents a qualitative study of women activists who are members of the Marikana landless committee located in Kwa-Thema, Ekurhuleni. It highlights the gender and power dynamics within and outside landless movement. It further explores views of women on access to land rights in Marikana informal settlement, influences of women‟s activism in the Marikana informal settlement committee and broader community, and gender, and power dynamics of participation within the Marikana informal settlement committee and broader community. It draws from observations of committee meetings and the broader community, interviews with eleven participants and informal conversations with residents to understand the gender dynamics and power relations within the committee and broader community...M.A. (Sociology