Empowered Black Women[?][…][!][.]: Intersectional Perspectives on Governing Business and the Economy in [South] Africa

Abstract

"Intersectionality and intersectional research in black economic empowerment form the central premise of this work. It interrogates the value of incorporating empirical and spatial data to an analysis of the experience of black businesswomen. Ostensibly, ‘measuring’ impact is a task that extends beyond the statistical, for urbanists who are interested in the points where empowered black women meet the black economy. Data based policy making does give some methodological guidance to linking these dimensions of blackness, but the numbers also extend the scope for accurate theorisation and scenario planning. Black businesswomen know full well what the state of the economy in South Africa and the rest of the continent looks like – what is useful in this reflection is imagining what the future could be. The many punctuation marks in the title speak to the uncertainty of such an endeavour, but also its highly dynamic evolution. Taking an intersection approach to developing an appreciation for the empowerment of black women in the capital and political economy assists in generating depth in methodological analysis. It gives depth where theorisation gives expanse to perspective. The paper proposes to engage this discussion in three ways: Firstly, by interrogating the governance basis for and of empowerment in the South African context and how the formal economy is governed as a consequence. Secondly, it engages the literature of feminist local economic development, intersectional approaches to empowerment and imaging black, feminist urban futures. Finally, the presentation reflects on the uncertainty of the policy of black economic empowerment and women’s development."