Armed conflict and reconfiguration of gender relations in Casamance (Senegal) : the limited feminization of the 'neither war nor peace' ; Conflit armé et reconfiguration des rapports de genre en Casamance (Sénégal) : la féminisation du « ni guerre ni paix » et ses limites

Abstract

This thesis examines the reconfigurations of gender relations caused by the armed conflict in Casamance, the oldest rebellion in Africa which for nearly 40 years oppose the State of Senegal to the secessionist Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC). Since the early 2000s, the conflict has entered in a floating phase of "neither war nor peace". In this context, we see an over-presence of women in public and private spheres due to the fact that the war has challenged masculinities and consequently provoque a rise of femininities. Indeed, in public sphere, the management of the Casamance conflict is marked by its androcentric dimension; men have shown their limits in the ability to put an end to the conflict, that is to say to fulfill the politico-military role of which they have the prerogative. Faced with that, women have mobilized to end the war through the creation of the Plateforme des Femmes pour la Paix en Casamance (PFPC). In the private domestic sphere, we observe vulnerable masculinities and overloaded femininities. While men were the main victims of the Casamance conflict, women became heads of families. However, a paradox is highlighted: this new paradigm of gender relations in favor of over-feminization in Casamance has not challenge patriarchal gender arrangements. The increase of female autonomy has not been accompanied by an increase of their political power or even their domestic power. As a result, this thesis seeks to demonstrate the paradoxical dimensions of this limited surfeminization without relevant effect on patriarchal gender norms. ; Cette thèse s'intéresse aux reconfigurations des rapports de genre induits par le conflit armé de Casamance, plus vieille rébellion d'Afrique qui oppose depuis près de 40 ans l'État du Sénégal au Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC) sécessionniste. Le conflit est entré depuis le début des années 2000 dans une phase de « ni guerre ni paix » dans laquelle on observe l'occupation des femmes de rôles masculins dans les sphères ...