Intersectionality and Representation: An Examination of Perceptions of Political Elites amongst Students at the University of Johannesburg

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing scholarship on the analytical benefits and methodological challenges of using intersectionality in political sciences (Celis and Mugge 2017; Severs et al 2016). More specifically, drawing on my on-going doctoral research, in which I examine how female students at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa view female political elites, I argue that qualitative research and intersectional analysis can offer new insights into descriptive representation that go beyond identity politics and ‘oppression Olympics’. While many political scientists use intersectionality towards what Choo and Ferree (2010) call the inclusion of the multiply-marginalized, there is a recognized need to unpack the meanings of the lived experiences of citizens who function within a society that is deeply saturated with intersecting systems of oppression. As such, a more ‘complex intersectionality’ which embraces the fluidity and messiness of self-constructed identities within a particular space and time, should be more embraced in political science scholarship. Discourses of race, class and gender inequality are understandably prevalent in the current South African political landscape, raging from issues such as ‘white monopoly capital,’ rape culture and gender-based violence, to ‘black economic empowerment’. Immersed in these debates, young South Africans currently enrolled in University are seen as the ‘Born Free generation’ – free of the Apartheid experiences, yet they battle with the regime’s legacies and memories, while having never experienced it themselves. Consequently, they are engulfed in contradictory organizational, intersubjective, experiential, and representational forms (Yuval Davis 2006) which influence their political behaviour, but which do not align neatly with unified categories that are frequently used to analyse descriptive representation. It is within this context that my research participants imagine female political elites as women who are strong leaders, with a backbone and steadfastness in their goal to bring change in the lives of the marginalized people. This image is a projection of the students’ future selves - women who are independent, educated, professional, and caring for the concerns of their communities. It is an articulation of descriptive representation that is more meaningful to explain the students’ political behaviours and attitudes, for example vis-à-vis the women in the ruling African National Congress, because it is rooted in their lived experiences in their full intersecting complexities. It is through rich qualitative data obtained through interviews, focus groups, and observations, that this articulation is possible. Hence, more qualitative research should be infused into political science scholarship in order to embrace complex intersectional analysis and provide better understanding of descriptive representation.