Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The case of Mauritius

This research is a socio-historical study of women and politics in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius. It traces the historical evolution of womenâs political engagement in social and womenâs movements as well as in the formal political institutions. The backdrop to this study was my interest in the field of women and politics and concern on womenâs marginal presence in the Mauritian parliament since women obtained the right to vote and stand for election in 1947, and until recently, the stark silences on this issue in the country. Mauritius experienced sustained democracy following independence and gained a solid reputation in terms of its stable democratic regime and economic success. Despite these achievements, the Mauritian democracy is deficient with regard to womenâs representation at the highest level of decision-making, in parliament. Moreover, the absence of documentation on this topic has rendered the scope of this study broad. In this thesis I primarily draw on the postcolonial feminist writings to study womenâs political activism in social and womenâs movements. With regard to womenâs participation in formal politics, I look at democratic contexts which resemble the Mauritian political system. From the body of literature on womenâs movement politics, I draw on the concepts of womenâs interests, autonomy and female solidarity. I analyse the interests of the main womenâs organisations, the type and existence of autonomy in the operations of womenâs organisations. I also discuss the issue of female solidarity, especially the formation of strategic feminist alliances between womenâs groups to form a strong lobby. The postcolonial literature also emphasises the emergence of feminism and womenâs political engagement in the context
of national liberation movements, which makes the Mauritian case study interesting given the absence of a nationalist spirit at independence. As such, the Mauritian case study has the potential to contribute to the theorisation in the field of âwomen and politicsâ, especially in multicultural contexts, which is currently an emerging research area. On the issue of women in formal politics, the main concept investigated is that of participation. I analyse the factors which make womenâs political participation possible in Mauritius, which is an interesting case study given the communal nature of Mauritian politics. I also employ the concept of intersectionality to investigate womenâs political engagement in movements and formal political structures. Here I question whether womenâs multiple identities impact upon their political participation and activities of the womenâs movement. Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius ii My study asks when and in what contexts did women engage in politics, both in social and womenâs movements and in political parties? What are the womenâs organisations that make up the womenâs movement? Do womenâs organisations function autonomously? Have womenâs organisations formed strategic feminist alliances between themselves and with women politicians? Is there any collaboration between the Ministry of Womenâs Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare and womenâs organisations? Has this ministry had any impact on the womenâs movement and its ability to form a strong lobby? What factors affect womenâs participation and presence in the formal political institutions? What is the impact of the conservative and patriarchal culture on womenâs political participation?
Does the heavy influence of religion and ethnicity on Mauritian politics affect womenâs chances of nomination as an electoral candidate? Qualitative methods including life histories and semi-structured interviews were the primary research tools employed to collect data for this research. Targeted respondents included women politicians and leaders of womenâs organisations. Documentary sources such as the press, parliamentary hansards, reports of NGOs and the Ministry of Women, historical texts and academic writings on Mauritius were also consulted. The findings show that women have a long history of political engagement since colonial times in social and womenâs movements and also in political parties. Womenâs intersectional identities played a determining factor as to which women were able to join formal politics and which womenâs group one was a member. Class, religion and ethnicity were key factors which slotted women into separate groups. As such, female solidarity was not a reality during that time. Womenâs organisations function with different levels of autonomy. Semi-autonomous and feminist womenâs organisations appeared from the late 1970s. In the absence of a nationalist struggle, it was the class struggle and the rise of movement politics that led to the surge of feminism in Mauritius. The key focus of these feminist bodies was on womenâs strategic needs and they formed strategic feminist alliances to fight for womenâs rights. Although some womenâs organisations had links with political parties, they were able to pursue a feminist agenda with to the support of the UN and its international treaties on women. The data thus shows that external funding and support are crucial to enable womenâs organisations to operate autonomously and to pursue a
feminist agenda. Autonomous womenâs organisations have experienced difficulties in terms of sustainability, especially since the state body, the Ministry of Womenâs Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare also competes for donor funding. This Ministry is also a threat to the autonomous Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The Case of Mauritius iii functioning of womenâs organisations as it has taken over the role of the representative organisation for Mauritian women and hinders the formation of strategic alliances between womenâs organisations. Solidarity between the different womenâs groups is therefore currently lacking, which weakens the womenâs movement and lobby and hinders womenâs political participation and parliamentary presence. Womenâs lack of autonomy to pursue feminist political activism and intersectional identities, especially pressure to conform to conservative notions of respective femininity are the main factors which have hindered women from forming strategic feminist alliances. The data also highlights the fact that Mauritian women have been left out of the key political debates of the country. Political institutions are male dominated and function with a male bias which often alienates women. The religious and ethnic and patriarchal lobbies are much stronger than the womenâs lobby, which marginalise womenâs political participation. The women who do join political parties are not able to exert any form of âautonomyâ and pursue a feminist agenda. This has weakened the ability of women politicians to form strategic feminist alliances across political parties and lobby for womenâs rights in the political arena. Hence, in Mauritius, womenâs lack of autonomy and the lack of solidarity between women in the
political arena are the principal impediments to womenâs enhanced political participation and the formation of a strong womenâs lobby. There is a need for women to organise strategically and look beyond their intersectional identities in order to exert greater autonomy in the political sphere

Publisher: University of Cape Town
Year of Publication: 2009