South African Women and Black Internationalism

Grant, Nicholas (2025) South African Women and Black Internationalism. South African Historical Journal. ISSN 0258-2473

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Abstract

Histories of Black internationalism have really multiplied over the last twenty years. Tracing the global vision that has always informed Black activism, this research has stressed the need to think about anti-racist and anticolonial politics beyond the boundaries of the nation state. Significantly, recent work by scholars such as Keisha Blain, Carole Boyce Davies, and Imaobong Umoren has emphasised the vital cross-border contributions that Black women have made to decolonial politics. In particular, Annette Joseph-Gabriel, Dawne Y. Curry, Meghan Healy Clancy, Holly Y. McGee and others have traced the ways in which African women have challenged race, class and gender oppression on a global scale. While this work has transformed the field, and helped decentre male leaders in histories of Black internationalism, there is still much to be done to account for the broad multifaceted ways African women forged transnational networks dedicated to Black liberation. Furthermore, there is a continued need to question the tendency of scholarship on Black internationalism (at least in the Anglo-American academy) that continues to privilege the North American Black experience. Building on and responding to this scholarship, this article considers the Black international activism of South African women in the 1950s. Specifically, it examines the global outlook and engagements of the leaders and members of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), as the organisation confronted the disruptive effects of apartheid. As such, it asks how Black South African women might force us to rethink mid-twentieth century histories of left Black internationalism. Acknowledging the tensions that existed between the international peace movement and the demands of the national liberation struggle, the article examines how South African women understood the struggle against apartheid as being bound up with global discussion concerning empire, human rights, and the system of global capitalism. Expanding on studies that focus on the gendered politics of Black internationalism, it documents how figures such as Lilian Ngoyi and Dora Tamana made vital intersectional contributions to global anticolonial politics. Each of these women foregrounded the concerns, needs and political leadership of African women – making it clear that familial and domestic concerns were integral to national and international movements dedicated to Black liberation. Finally, by focusing on the embodied and deeply felt nature of Black internationalism articulated by these women, the article makes clear how a focus on gender forces us to expand how we think about global anti-apartheid politics in ways that has important implications for antiracist and decolonial politics today.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4* ,/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/REFrank/4_
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy and Area Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Area Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > American Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Global & Transnational History Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Gender and Its Intersections
Related URLs:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2025 15:30
Last Modified:	17 Sep 2025 15:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100424
DOI:	10.1080/02582473.2025.2543532

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