The arrival of democracy in South Africa in the early 1990s began an era of hope and expectation for millions of South Africans, who during the previous few decades had endured the violent and unequal regime of apartheid. The new Constitution, adopted in 1996, is one of the most progressive national documents in the world, committing the new South Africa to establishing and maintaining equality in a wide range of contexts, including gender. This special issue of Feminist Studies examines the location of women in democratic South Africa, exploring and analyzing the relationship between political change and the lived experiences of South African women. What are some of the opportunities and difficulties of establishing a feminist state in a nation with such a long and profound history of institutionalized inequality? How effective have constitutional and legislative initiatives been in improving women's lives in South Africa?

Versions of four of the articles published here were originally presented at a conference in October 1999 called "Politics, Rights, and Representation: Gender and Race Equality in the United States, France, and South Africa," which was organized by Leora Auslander and took place at the Center for Gender Studies, University of Chicago. All four articles (by Catherine Albertyn, Shireen Hassim, Thenjiwe Mtintso, and Gay W. Seidman) take up in one way or another the question of the relationship between the state apparatus and grassroots women's movements and experiences. In this issue, these articles are complemented by a number of other pieces, including autobiographies and poems, which explore the evolution, during the early years of South African democracy, of a number of cultural and activist organizations: the WEAVE collective, the Philani Printing Project, the Association of Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians, and the Treatment Action Campaign. Political change of the kind we have seen in South Africa is always catalyzed by the consciousness, the courage, the imagination, and the actions of countless women and men, and one of our aims in this volume is to ask how this kind of energy continues to transform South Africa at the beginning of the new millennium.

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Preface
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Shireen Hassim
The Gender Pact and Democratic Consolidation: Institutionalizing Gender Equality in the South African State
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Smitha Radhakrishnan
"African Dream": The Imaginary of Nation, Race, and Gender in South African Intercultural Dance
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Roshila Nair
drought; Heritage Day (24/09/00) (Poetry)
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Gay W. Seidman
Institutional Dilemmas: Representation versus Mobilization in the South African Gender Commission
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Malika Ndlovu
born in africa but; Lydia in the Wind (Poetry)
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Thenjiwe Mtintso
Representivity: False Sisterhood or Universal Women's Interests? The South African Experience
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Barbara Boswell
WEAVEing Identities
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Diana Ferrus
Tribute to Sara Baartman (written in Holland, June 1998); The neverending story -- 1810-2002 (Poetry)
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Catherine Albertyn
Contesting Democracy: HIV/AIDS and the Achievement of Gender Equality in South Africa
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Roshila Nair
an unforgiving poem; aluta continua (Poetry)
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Kimberly Miller
The Philani Printing Project: Women's Art and Activism in Crossroads, South Africa
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Gabeba Baderoon
Cinnamon; Play, or, Watching a Film about Muslim Boys; Contemporary Architecture (Poetry)
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Taghmeda Achmat, Theresa Raizenberg, Rachel Holmes
Midi and Theresa: Lesbian Activism in South Africa
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Natasha Erlank
Gender and Masculinity in South African Nationalist Discourse, 1912-1950
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News and Views
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Notes on Contributors
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Publications Received
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Cover Art

The Philani Printing Project
Umanyano Ngamandla (Unity Is Power), 2000. Acrylic on cotton, 56 x 72 inches.
© The Philani Printing Project.
Photograph by Kurt Gohde.