À margem das margens: mulheres, guerra e paz no Sudão do Sul

Abstract

Officially independent for just over a decade, South Sudan has undergone complex historical processes that led to its formation as a state and the recognition of its independence, including decades of prolonged armed conflict. The following dissertation aims to investigate narratives about the history of South Sudan in order to identify which subjects and events are made visible in them and in what ways. More specifically, we bring the concern with South Sudanese women and their experiences of war and peace to the center of the analysis in order to verify how our understanding of war and peace in the country expands. To this end, we articulate a theoretical-conceptual framework based on feminist contributions to International Relations and related fields, with an emphasis on post-structuralist theories of gender. We argue that, based on the juxtaposition of narratives proposed by Laura Shepherd, it is possible to identify the gendered discursive mechanisms that operate to marginalize women in the narrative traditionally told about war and peace in South Sudan. Furthermore, we identify what we call the paradox of war and peace based on an in-depth analysis of the mobilization of gender roles within South Sudanese society. We conclude that focusing on women's narratives allows us to conceptually expand the notions of war and peace.