Power and identity: an introduction to sexualities in southern Africa

Abstract

This introduction to the Special issue of Sexualities (Sexualities in Southern Africa) engages with the challenge of re-thinking sexualities in Africa, (Arnfred, 2004: 7), which emerged out of two conferences 'Writing African Women Poetics and Politics of African Gender Research' and 'From Boys to Men: Masculinities and Risk Conference', both held at the University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa, in January 2005. The introduction provides a framework for and an overview of the seven articles included in the special issue, beginning with a discussion of the history and historiography of sexuality in Southern Africa and an examination of some of the theoretical approaches used in the study of sexuality in Southern Africa.