Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

Abstract

African people leverage values such as community-centeredness, interconnectedness and reciprocity. These are values that are passed down intergenerationally through socialization processes spearheaded by our elders. This spirit of community is reflected in the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and indeed, ceremonies such as pitiki – which aimed to celebrate birth and motherhood – are underpinned by such principles. Traditionally, six to twelve months following the birth of a child, women in Basotho communities collectively celebrated this sacred event and also imparted empowering indigenous knowledges to the new mother. However, since the advent of colonisation and the Christian missionary drive to civilize the ‘native’, these indigenous practices and their underpinning principles have lost significance amongst Basotho. Instead, in order to pass as civilized, Basotho have increasingly adopted westernised ways of life underpinned by neo-liberalist competition and individualism. Further, the changing socio-economic and cultural landscape in post-colonial Lesotho has brought about complexities and shifts in how pitiki is practiced. This reflective paper draws on decolonial feminist approaches to trace the continuities and discontinuities of community in the context of a changing social, economic and cultural landscape. In doing this, the paper challenges the colonial narrative of ahistoricity, stagnancy and backwardness often associated with African practices and indigenization. Instead, I argue that the pitiki practice is a dynamic and responsive matriarchal space leveraged by women as they navigate and negotiate the complex socio-economic and cultural terrain in post-colonial Lesotho.

Short Bio

Dr Neo Selikane-Mohlabane is a Lecturer in the Sociology department at the University of Pretoria. She holds a Master of Public Health and PhD in Sociology (Gender studies) both obtained from the University of Pretoria. Her research interests lie in the areas of gender, sexuality, African femininities, violence against women, intersectionality and decolonial African feminist analyses. Prior to joining the University of Pretoria, Neo was employed at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa as a senior research specialist. She is an experienced researcher and academic with a demonstrable history of working in the public health and social sciences field.