Women, political violence, and the production of fear in Malawian social media texts

ABSTRACT

In the light of insights from the literature on incivility toward women politicians on social media, this article examines the experiences of Malawian women in politics as well as the prescriptive social and cultural norms that are projected onto them by the public. Drawing on social media texts about Veronica Katanga and Joyce Banda during the era of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (2004–2012 and 2014–2020), I identify a troubling gatekeeping strategy that DPP politicians deliberately used to malign the two women for exercising their right to participate in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. Drawing on Pumla Dineo Gqola’s notion of the “female fear factory,” this study shows how the DPP engaged in political violence (both physically and discursively) to police and instill fear in women politicians. It also shows how DPP politicians and their followers amplified cultural stereotypes and drew on religious themes to achieve this outcome. The article concludes that Malawian women politicians have re-engaged in political participation through textual/feminist strategies that speak truth to power, thereby contributing to the enhancement of activism and agency among women engaging in politics.

KEYWORDS:

• Political violence
• fear
• Malawi
• sexism
• social media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Gilman (2009) cites the case of the former secretary general of the UDF, Kennedy Makwangwala, who faced charges for allegedly destroying Marjorie Ngaunje’s vehicles during the 2004 primaries for the Ntcheu Bwanje South constituency to intimidate Ngaunje and force her out of the political race. Gilman also writes of Ettinor Koloviko, who was threatened with violence for choosing to run for Parliament in the Blantyre North constituency.

2 According to Adichie (2017, 22), “allow” is a troubling word, since it suggests that men are dominant, vested with power and authority, and that it is at their discretion and out of their benevolence that women are able to assume power.

3 Though Banda resigned from the DPP and founded her own party, she remained Malawi’s vice president until Bingu wa Mutharika died in office in April 2012. Banda served as head of state until May 2014, when the general election took place, because the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi empowers the vice president to act as head of state if the latter is either incapacitated or dead until the position of president is substantively filled.

4 Bingu wa Mutharika and Arthur Peter Mutharika are blood brothers who also became heads of state under the same political party (the DPP). Bingu ruled Malawi between 2004 and 2012, when he died in office after experiencing heart failure. Peter ruled Malawi between 2014 and 2019.

5 George Saonda was the Director of Public Events during the DPP era. He used his role as a public orator to savagely attack opposition politicians. He has since switched his political allegiance from the DPP to the UTM.

6 Even though Banda did not win the 2014 presidential election in Malawi, she did win the fight to become president after Bingu’s sudden death. Thus, while there is much discussion of sexism toward women as political actors in this article, one cannot ignore the law in ensuring that Banda, a woman, was rightfully accorded her constitutional mandate. Because of this, Malawi became the first country in southern Africa to have a woman president, even though her tenure was short lived.

7 The message in Job 14:4 reads “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one” or “Nothing clean can ever come from anything as unclean as human beings.” Job uses this phrase to refer to the universal uncleanness of human beings – that there is no one without sin. The context in which the Bible verse is used here, however, is different in that the phrase appears to portray women alone as unclean and filthy and therefore unfit to stand before, let alone rule, men.

8 Women should of course be able to live their lives freely, without the approval of their families and husbands. In Africa, however, women find themselves constantly negotiating this slippery terrain. Many women politicians, especially in Malawi, have to think constantly about how their immediate family members will perceive them.

9 This is a reference to Malawi’s return to multi-party democracy. It started with an announcement in October 1992, when President Hastings Kamuzu Banda (not in any way connected to Joyce Banda) bowed to international pressure and told Malawians that he would hold a referendum to let them decide whether they were happy with his one-party system of government. The referendum was held in June 1993, during which Malawians overwhelmingly voted against Kamuzu Banda’s regime. In May 1994, a general election was held for the first time in 30 years, during which Kamuzu Banda’s authoritarian rule was completely dismantled.

10 A summary of the services offered by the Centre for Civil Society Strengthening can be found at http://ccssmalawi.org/services/.

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Nick Mdika Tembo

Nick Mdika Tembo holds a PhD in English Studies from Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and is currently a Professor of English in the Department of Literary Studies at the University of Malawi, Malawi. He is also a Research Fellow in the Department of English at the University of the Free State, South Africa. His teaching and research interests are in trauma and memory studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, childhood studies, African life writing, and social media technologies. He has extensively published book chapters and journal articles in these areas.