GCYFRG Online Speaker Series (October 2023): Prof Deevia Bhana Title of the Talk: Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts Abstract: In this paper I discuss the ways in which gender and sexuality manifest in select Global South early childhood educational settings in Brazil, China, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam. Drawing from a forthcoming book, I point to the numerous possibilities for disrupting and challenging gender and sexuality in early childhood educational contexts. I argue that gender and sexual norms, shaped by histories of colonisation and the dynamics of power configure in Global South settings and in ECE contexts. Situated in the context of colonial and postcolonial discourses, early childhood educational contexts are inextricably entangled with legacies of colonisation and the surrounding social and cultural contexts, and inform our efforts in addressing gender inequalities and injustices.
About the Speaker: Prof Deevia Bhana holds the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Gender and Childhood Sexuality at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Her research is transdisciplinary, drawing on feminist and new materialist theories to investigate the gendered sexual cultures of children and young people, their experience of violence and the ways in which education and other institutions can contribute to enhancing their sexual well-being, safety, and gender equality. She serves as the Co-Chair of RINGS (International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies), a global association consisting of 75 research institutions dedicated to gender and feminist research. She holds several editorial leadership roles and is one of the Chief Editors of the journal Children and Society, Pedagogy, Culture and Society, while also serving as an Associate Editor of Health Education Journal. She is a member of the Board of Directors of CIES (Comparative and International Education Society).
You can see the video from the session here: