{"product_id":"national-liberation-and-the-political-life-of-exile-sex-gender-and-nation-in-the-struggle-against-apartheid-9780821426661","title":"National Liberation and the Political Life of Exile: Sex, Gender, and Nation in the Struggle Against Apartheid","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe first book-length study to reveal how women in exile shaped South Africa's antiapartheid movement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis groundbreaking book explores the often-overlooked role of women in South Africa's liberation movements, particularly within the African National Congress during its years in exile from 1960 to 1990. It examines how transformations in gender roles--though contested--were central to imagining a postapartheid South Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough an analysis of women's diplomatic work and their advocacy for policies on sexual education, birth control, family life, and childcare, Rachel Sandwell challenges traditional narratives that have ignored or minimized women's contributions. She highlights how South African women played a crucial role in connecting exiles to left-wing international organizations like the Women's International Democratic Federation, positioning women as key figures in global anticolonial politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book also explores how gender transformation was at the heart of the exiled antiapartheid movement's vision for a free South Africa. Women fought for recognition beyond the role of \"mothers of the nation,\" sparking internal debates over revolutionary morality, the compatibility of motherhood with military service, and responses to sexual and domestic violence within the movement. These struggles mirrored broader ideological conflicts over nation building, belonging, and political identity as the African National Congress sought legitimacy as a government-in-exile.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUltimately, \u003ci\u003eNational Liberation and the Political Life of Exile\u003c\/i\u003e asks how we write histories of revolutionary movements--especially those that, despite their transformative ambitions, did not fully realize their goals. A vital contribution to feminist history, anticolonial studies, and the history of global liberation struggles, this book reshapes our understanding of gender and politics in the antiapartheid movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRachel Sandwell\u003c\/b\u003e is an assistant professor of history at Cornell University. Her work has been published in the \u003ci\u003eSouth African Historical Journal, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eSigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Women's History, \u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern African Studies.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ohio University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51985623187730,"sku":"9780821426661","price":40.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_efff0ef7-ec11-4577-9a76-dff7e9319a62.jpg?v=1769541570","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/national-liberation-and-the-political-life-of-exile-sex-gender-and-nation-in-the-struggle-against-apartheid-9780821426661","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}