Rachel Sandwell, assistant professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, has won the Joel Gregory Book Prize from the Canadian Association of African Studies for “National Liberation and the Political Life of Exile: Sex, Gender, and Nation in the Struggle against Apartheid” (Ohio University Press, 2025).
The study reveals how women in exile shaped South Africa’s antiapartheid movement. Sandwell explores the role of women in the country's liberation movements, particularly within the African National Congress (ANC) during its years in exile from 1960 to 1990.
Women played a major role in debates within the party during this period centered around “a future where men and women, Black and white, were equal and liberated to live well,” as well as debates about ending apartheid racism, Sandwell said in an interview about the book. “I look at how the ANC in exile tried to define itself as representing and including all South Africans, and I argue that women helped shape conversations around defining who South Africans were.”
Through an analysis of women’s diplomatic work and their advocacy for policies on sexual education, birth control, family life and childcare, Sandwell challenges traditional narratives that have ignored or minimized women’s contributions.
“People mobilizing within the ANC did incredible work to build a better world under very difficult circumstances,” Sandwell said. “My goal in the book overall is to show the challenges and pitfalls of national liberation struggles, but also their powerful political potential.”
Sandwell said she is honored by the recognition, adding that she learned a great deal from the people whose work and lives she studied.
The Canadian Association of African Studies recognizes excellence in scholarship on Africa every two years by awarding the Joel Gregory Prize, named after a leading demographer at the Université de Montréal who served as President of the Canadian Association of African Studies and Editor of the Canadian Journal of African Studies.
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