Browsing by Author "De Jong, Michelle"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    African governments must build on Covid-19 responses to advance gender equality
    (NLM (Medline), 2023) Bello, Kéfilath; George, Asha; De Jong, Michelle
    Gender inequality remains a major threat to development in Africa, with millions of women in the continent not reaching their full potential.1 The covid-19 pandemic and related quarantine and lockdown measures exacerbated these gender inequalities. The effects included increased reports of gender based violence,1-4 the economic consequences of reduced income and unemployment for women and families,5-13 and disruptions to essential health services.14-17 In addition, school closures as a part of responding to the pandemic, further exposed girls and adolescents to violence, unintended pregnancies, and a risk of permanent dropout from schools across the region.
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    #BecomingYou: discourses of authenticity, work, and success in South African consumer culture
    (SAGE, 2024) De Jong, Michelle; Plüg, Simóne; Collins, Anthony
    Authenticity is now being used to describe things as diverse as politicians, wallets and holiday packages, and claims to authenticity have become increasingly marketable. Media sources from magazines to social media blogs are all inundated with a persisting, recurring message: that tapping into the “real you” will be the liberating force allowing you to live a happy and successful life. This paper draws on a social constructionist theoretical framework and discourse analytic method to critically analyse three interconnected discourses of personal authenticity (as success, change and work) explored in 10 marketing campaigns prominent in South African media. The constructions found in these media are important not just as reflections of current subject positions available in a particular context, but also in the (re)construction of these particular identities and the (re)production of particular social systems. More specifically, in this case, by closely tying authenticity to notions of success, work and change, these discourses produce “good neoliberal subjects”- ambitious, self-regulated, proactive and productive citizens committed to personal progress and contributing to a “functioning” society. In other words, through these discourses, individuals’ personal aspirations (e.g. self-improvement or happiness) become inextricably linked with capitalist modes of being (work and consumption).
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    Policy foundations for transformation: A gender analysis of adolescent health policy documents in South Africa
    (Oxford University Press, 2021) Jacobs, Tanya; George, Asha; De Jong, Michelle
    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Global Strategy (2016-30) emphasize that all women, children and adolescents 'survive, thrive and transform'. A key element of this global policy framework is that gender equality is a stand-alone goal as well as a cross-cutting priority. Gender inequality and intersecting social and structural determinants shape health systems, including the content of policy documents, with implications for implementation. This article applies a gender lens to policy documents by national government bodies that have mandates on adolescent health in South Africa. Data were 15 policy documents, authored between 2003 and 2018, by multiple actors. The content analysis was guided by key lines of enquiry, and policy documents were classified along the continuum of gender blind to gender transformative. Only three policy documents defined gender, and if gender was addressed, it was mostly in gender-sensitive ways, at times gender specific, but rarely gender transformative. Building on this, a critical discourse analysis identified what is problematized and what is left unproblematized by actors, identifying the key interrelated dominant and marginalized discourses, as well as the 'silences' embedded in policy documents. The discourse analysis revealed that dominant and marginalized discourses reflect how gender is conceptualized as fixed, categorical identities, vs as fluid social processes, with implications for how rights and risks are understood. The discourses substantiate an over-riding focus on adolescent girls, outside of the context of power relations, with minimal attention to boys in terms of their own health or through a gender lens, as well as little consideration of LGBTIQ+ adolescents beyond HIV. Dynamic and complex relationships exist between the South Africa context, actors, content and processes, in shaping both how gender is problematized and how 'solutions' are represented in these policies. How gender is conceptualized matters, both for policy analysis and for praxis, and policy documents can be part of foundations for transforming gender and intersecting power relations.
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    Whole-of-community interventions that address alcohol-related harms: Protocol for a scoping review
    (BMC, 2022) Okeyo, Ida; Walmisley, Ulla; De Jong, Michelle
    Alcohol-related harm is a rising global concern particularly in low-income and middle-income countries where alcohol use fuels the high rates of violence, road traffic accidents and is a risk factor for communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Existing evidence to address alcohol-related harm recommends the use of intersectoral approaches, however, previous efforts have largely focused on addressing individual behaviour with limited attention to whole-of-community approaches. Whole-of-community approaches are defined as intersectoral interventions that are systematically coordinated and implemented across the whole community. The objective of this scoping review is to synthesise the existing literature on multisectoral, whole-of-community interventions which have been used to modify or prevent alcohol-related harms.