My personal experience in incorporating African Feminisms into gig economy research
A little bit about me
When I started my first-year undergraduate in Community Development and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg I called myself a Feminist. At the time, it was popular for university girls to be calling themselves Feminists. Then my Development Studies lecturer Dr Larr Onyango introduced us to African Development. He made us watch a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) video, the whole class was screaming and some of my classmates left the lecture hall to avoid the trauma. From that day, it was placed in my consciousness that it is my role within society must be geared towards helping to improve the lives of African girls and women.
When I was doing my BA Honours degree in Social Policy, I was volunteering in Kliptown and I attempted to introduce a Child Protection technology system at an NGO. Nobody understood my vision, so I had to change my project. A few months after I completed my degree, I was at home watching the news and the Department of Basic Education had implemented the same idea that I had. This is when I realised that the normal person in society at community level is not ready to be part of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). Even if they are ready, what resources do they have to be part of 4IR. I was on campus and a lot of noise was being made about this revolution and I kept asking myself about where the average woman and young person fits into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
My current experience in African Feminist research
Now that I am doing my master’s degree and my focus is on young black women and the gig economy, my past experiences as a university student are beginning to make sense. When I started my research, to be honest, I knew nothing about the gig economy. However, I knew one thing for sure and it is that I would have a lot of learning curves in terms of writing. Life is difficult but theoretical frameworks are unnecessary, difficult and massive time wasters. Well, that is what I used to believe before I started with my masters, and this mostly comes from not having a clue about what I was doing during my Honours. That year should go down in history as the messiest time in my history as a student. I would literally go to class, sit at the back and nap, but that all changed in my master’s year. The Advanced Research module that traumatised me last year makes complete sense. Now I know the importance of a theoretical framework. It guides the entire research and if you do not have a clear grasp of it then the whole research becomes messy. I think my Honours lecturer would be proud of how much I finally got this even though I slept in most of her classes.
Lessons that I have learnt so far and questions you can ask yourself
1. Do you think you truly embody what is said about your theoretical framework?
2. Of course, your research will not change South Africa, but do you truly believe that you will add a little knowledge to academic discourse through your research?
3. Lastly, what motivates you to do this research, I mean constantly writing is a lot of effort. Sometimes you write something, and you feel confident about it until your supervisor tells you to cancel it because it does not make sense. These are the questions you should be asking yourself because if I was not passionate about African women and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, then I would not be putting in as much effort as I am making now.
