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P098


Gender, body politics and humanitarian fields in Africa 
Convenors:
Giovanna Cavatorta (University of Catania)
Michela Fusaschi (University of Rome Three)
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Format:
Panels
Location:
KH105
Start time:
1 July, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/Zurich
Session slots:
1

Short Abstract:

In the field of the anthropology of humanitarian governmentalities, this panel aims to discuss researches on gender policies and body politics in Africa.

Long Abstract:

Humanitarian projects promoting biopolitics of the body and aimed at enforcing women's and gender rights (e.g. campaigns for the abandonment of the so-called "FGM/C" practices, promoting sexual health, targeting lgbt and sexworker groups, etc.) are highly spread in Africa challenging local sex/gender systems. In these fields transnational, governmental and grassroots social dynamics articulate with each other and different representations of gender violence and empowerment circulate. We propose to consider these projects as social arenas in which moral economies are elaborated and negotiated and relations of power among different gendered subjectivities are defined and deployed.

The overall objective of this panel is to contribute to a critical anthropology of human rights, gender and body politics in the domain of humanitarian governmentalities in Africa. We seek contributions offering a strong analysis of both sited discourse and social practices in order to gain anthropological insights into the complex moral, social and political stakes.

Which representations of healthiness and pleasure are allowed to be expressed? Which "traditional" and "modern" gendered bodies are produced and how are they legitimized? How to disclose neocolonialist approaches underlying neoliberal biopolitics? When and which positioned definitions of structural violence, gender violence and empowerment emerge? Considering these projects in terms of politics of redistribution, what about extraversion in this sense? These and other questions could be addressed.

This panel welcomes papers in English and French.

Accepted papers:

Session 1