The Pan African Psychology Union (PAPU) held its first conference in Durban, South Africa from 18 to 21 September 2017. During the opening ceremony, three speakers welcomed delegates from around the African continent. Among the speakers was Saths Cooper, the PAPU president, who said that the conference marked the inauguration of a continental African Psychology congress of its own caliber. The theme of the conference was ‘Psychology in Society’. The congress had more than 600 delegates presenting papers speaking to the congress theme. The presenters were from different countries across Africa, the African diaspora and the rest of the world wishing to push the boundaries of the discipline of psychology. Sixteen researchers from Critical Studies in Sexualities and Preproduction (CSSR) had the opportunity to attend and present at the conference, covering a range of topics. The sixteen researchers presented in four symposia.
The first symposium, entitled ‘Queering sexualities: Queer disclosure, queer health rights in policies, and homosexual/heterosexual friendships’ consisted of the following papers:
‘To come out or not to come out? Queering the discourse of 'coming out'’, presented by CSSR research associate, Natalie Donaldson
‘A systematic review of how faghags resist and/or reinforce heteronormativity in friendship dyads’, presented by CSSR MA student, Zipho Dolamo
‘Policy responses to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of queer youth in the global South’, presented by CSSR MA student, Sarah-Anne Moore
Influenced by the work of Butler, Edelman, Bersani and Berlant, to mention a few, feminists have been using queer theory to challenge the nature of socially and politically constructed notions of normative sexualities particularly sexual behaviour and sexual identities. While there have been some positive outcomes to this work, challenges remain in relation to non-normative sexuality, identity disclosures, and policies addressing queer sexual health. In this symposium the researchers presented a number of reviews that analyze how queer literature and policies really are. The first paper reviewed research on ‘coming out’, arguing that the discourse of coming out reproduces heteronormative ideologies around sexualities and gender. In the second paper, they reviewed existing policies related to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in the Global South, outlining how queer youth are depicted in these policies. In the final paper, gay men and straight women friendship dyads were reviewed and shown how heteronormativity is reinforced or resisted within these relationships.
The second symposium, entitled ‘Shaping sexualities: sex talk, sisterly sexual socialization, policing sexualities and sexual citizenship’, consisted of the following papers:
‘Blessers, naps, and the friendzone: Colloquial terms in young adults talk about sexual desire, sexual practices and sexual subjectivities’, presented by CSSR MA student, Cassandra Robertson
‘Sistering and sexual socialisation: A psychosocial study of Xhosa women's 'sex and reproduction talk' with their sisters’, presented by CSSR MA student, Yanela Ndabula
‘Predators, perverts and prostitutes, or some unintended consequences of colonial and apartheid era social engineering’, presented by CSSR research associate, Jacqueline Marx
‘Participation in the Silent Protest: Promoting or inhibiting inclusive and process-based understanding of sexualities in relation to sexual violence?’, presented by CSSR MA student, Liz Chitiki
Feminist work on sexualities focuses attention on sexual rights and sexual identities, to challenge existing cultural, social and political frameworks. In this symposium the speakers concentrated on spaces in which sexualities are shaped: the talk, intimate interactions, legislation, politics and protests that provide the conditions of possibility for the expression and restriction of particular sexualities. In the first paper, they focused on how young people talk about sexualities and how this talk underpins or undermines gendered and heteronormative power relations. In the second paper, they explored, using a psychoanalysis framework, sister-sister talk about sex and how they construct each other as sexual beings. In the third paper they outlined some of the unintended consequences of colonial and apartheid social engineering regarding sexualities. Finally, in paper four, they looked at how understandings of sexual citizenship are promoted or inhibited through participation in the protests of social movements.
The third symposium, entitled ‘Abortion decision-making in context, consisted of the following papers:
‘"Your baby comes out in bits and pieces": Sharing procedural information in the pre-abortion counselling interaction’, presented by CSSR PhD student, Ryan du Toit
‘‘Unwise choices': Problematising unintended pregnancy and abortion in nurses' and counsellors’ narrated experiences of providing pre-abortion counselling’, presented by CSSR PhD student, Jabu Jace Mavuso
‘“You do not have a choice at that point in time”: Stories of women’s abortion experiences in Zimbabwe’, presented by CSSR Post-doctoral fellow, Malvern Chiweshe
‘"It's not an abortion": Silencing and stigma surrounding late termination of pregnancy and 'feticide'’, presented by CSSR PhD student, Angela Vorster
Abortion decision-making is a complex and multi-faceted process that is underpinned by an array of power relations. In African contexts some of the issues involved in the process include the legality of abortion, the attitudes of service providers and stigma attached to abortion. In this symposium researchers from the CSSR presented research from South Africa and Zimbabwe on aspects of the abortion decision making process. In the first two papers, they presented results from a large study on pre-abortion counselling processes in South Africa, where abortion legislation is liberal. They explored the rhetorical devices used by health service providers in pre-abortion counselling interactions with women seeking legal abortions. In the second paper, nurses’ and counsellors’ narratives of their experiences of providing pre-abortion counselling in a South African context were problematised. In the third paper research from Zimbabwe was presented where abortion laws are restrictive. They explored how women’s lived circumstances necessitate an abortion. In the last paper from South Africa, findings were presented on women who receive late termination of pregnancy due to foetal abnormality and show how avoiding the term abortion protects women from stigma.
The final symposium was entitled ‘Problematics of pregnancy in South Africa’ and consisted of the following papers:
‘Alcohol use during pregnancy in the Eastern Cape: Research in support of FASfacts intervention’, presented by CSSR researcher, Katlego Molokoe
‘Governing pregnant women: The case of alcohol consumption’, presented by CSSR PhD student, Ulandi du Plessis
‘Configurations of risk, race and culture in the construction of the teenaged pregnant woman’, presented by CSSR research associate, Tracy Feltham-King
‘Women's experiences of pregnancy support: An intersectionality approach’, presented by CSSR MA student, Megan Reuvers
One of the focus areas of the CSSR involves the interrogation of a wide range of epistemological, ethical, and normative issues related to pregnancy and childbirth. The centre endeavours to produce useful, practical and critical work specific to the South African context. This symposium offered up some of the pregnancy-related research produced at the CSSR. The first paper presented the results of the first phase of a larger project that aims to evaluate an alcohol-related intervention targeted at pregnant women. This phase involved determining the baseline level of alcohol consumption among pregnant women in the Eastern Cape. The second paper focused on the government of alcohol consumption among pregnant women in South Africa by analysing the government’s response to the rising rates of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), using a Foucauldian lens. The third paper applied this lens to teenage pregnancy and analysed the various discourses that have shaped the teenaged pregnant subject in South Africa. The fourth paper reported on a qualitative study on the experience of social support during pregnancy in the rural Eastern Cape.
Professor Catriona Macleod was also part of an invited roundtable entitled ‘The Science of Psychology in Africa and the Global South’ hosted by the Psychological Society of South Africa’s (PsySSA’s) Science of Psychology Committee. The symposium engaged with the complexities suggested by questions such as: What is the current state of the science of psychology in Africa and the Global South more broadly? How is the science of psychology in the Global South different from or similar to psychology as practiced in the Global North? Are the psychological methodologies and epistemologies employed in Global South regions sufficiently grounded in context? What are the promises and limitations of adopting scientific approaches that have been developed in the Global North? How does the science of psychology in Africa and the Global South inform interventions, actions, policies and social processes in these regions? How is psychological knowledge produced in Africa and the Global South interweaved into education and training in psychology? How well has the science of psychology in Africa and the Global South done in producing a decolonised knowledge base? Finally, moving forward, what are the scientific imperatives for psychology in the African context and the Global South more broadly?
The other presenters at the roundtable included Professor Oscar Barbarin (University of Maryland, United States of America), Professor Brendan Barnes (University of Johannesburg, South Africa), Professor Donna Maynard (University of the West Indies, Barbados), Professor Wade Nobles (San Francisco State University, United States of America), Professor Ava Thompson (University of the Bahamas, The Bahamas), and Professor Andrew Zamani (Nasarawa State University, Nigeria).
During a special launch of the book: Blackwashing homophobia: violence and politics of sexuality, gender and race written by Melanie Judge, four of the CSSR students received awards; three of whom received an honourable mention in the SGDPsySSA student presentation awards: Zipho Dolamo, Sarah-Ann Moore and Cassandra Robertson. Yanela Ndabula won the SGDPsySSA best student presentation award.