The (in)visible subject

Women's normative strategies in eastern Congo

Bibliographic Data

ID14799688
AuthorsÉvelyne Jean-Bouchard (0000-0002-5521-3113, University of Ottawa, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume46
Issue3
Pages357-373
Publication date2014-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0732-9113 • E-ISSN: 2305-9931
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07329113.2014.986947
OpenAlexW1997236523
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited14

Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo are still suffering the effects of the many conflicts that have ravaged the country. But paradoxically, Congolese women are also able to mobilize norms within various semi-autonomous fields and networks as a means of securing their day-to-day survival.Using a multisite methodology, I retraced the path of normative reconstructions initiated by women at the international, transnational, national and local levels. What I observed was that women were using (in)visibility strategies as a means of challenging oppressive social orderings while also making sure to remain a part of the social game. Indeed, the politics of visibility are a fundamental aspect of the public-and-private dynamic, where the spatialization of power takes shape. Because women have historically been the subject of these regulatory mechanisms, they have had to develop a specific type of agency. This has been facilitated by the post-colonial and post-conflict context peculiar to eastern Congo, where fragmented power structures are only able to exert partial hegemonies on individuals.Keywords: semi-autonomous social fieldsnetworkswomen's agencyeastern Congolaw and geographyvisibility dynamics LegislationLa Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo, Journal Officiel de la République Démocratique du Congo, 18 février 2006.Loi no 87-010 portant Code de la famille, 1987.Loi n° 06/018 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Décret du 30 janvier 1940 portant Code pénal congolais (loi sur les violences sexuelles partie I), la Loi n° 06/019 du 20 juillet 2006 modifiant et complétant le Décret du 06 août 1959 portant Code de Procédure Pénale Congolais (loi sur les violences sexuelles partie II).L'ordonnance-loi No 82-020 portant Code de l'organisation et de la compétence judiciaire (COCJ), 1982

Library science · Normative · Political science · Sociology · Subject (documents · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Identity, and Health · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender

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