Haunted by the Somatic Norm: South African Parliamentary Debates on Abortion in 1975 and 1996

Abstract

This article uses the concept of an institutional somatic or bodily norm alongside the notion of haunting to suggest a new way of thinking about processes of institutional change. The article asks, is it an overwhelming presence of men that creates and maintains an institution as masculine? This question is explored in relation to the South African Parliament, an institution that was transformed in 1994 by democratic elections that altered its purpose and personnel dramatically. South Africa was praised internationally for the increase in the number of women MPs that accompanied its transition to democracy, and this praise was framed in ways that suggested that these women could break down the historical domination of state institutions by men and foster a more inclusive democracy. In this article I reexamine this putative transformation through an analysis of two debates, both on the subject of abortion legislation, that took place in the South African Parliament in 1975 and 1996. Members of Parliament participate in debate not only through making speeches but also through interjecting, interrupting, jeering, clapping, laughing, and using humor, all of which are considered here as rituals of representation. The analysis of the two debates draws links between the ritualized forms of parliamentary debate and the constitution of an institutional somatic norm. I thereby show that the ghostly presence of the somatic norm, bound up with the rituals of behavior in parliaments, can linger long after the men who first constituted it have departed.