by Lesley Braun, University of Basel

In partnership with LAMC

The reliance on imported products has rendered many sub-Saharan African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) vulnerable to global disruptions which have engendered supply chain bottlenecks, rising shipping costs and inflation. As there is little to no industry in the DRC for everyday goods for the Congolese consumer base of over ninety million people, manufactured goods are imported from countries like Dubai, Turkey, and China. China dominates other countries in terms of manufactured goods, and has enabled more people, particularly women in the DRC to participate not only as global consumers, but also as entrepreneurs. Transnational trader women called “femmes commerçantes” are at the forefront of creating new social classes, as well as household structures. While transnational trader women are a new and driving force within Congo’s economy, these women are also sometimes considered morally suspicious within their own communities—a woman’s financial independence can be threatening to a man especially if she competes for the same resources. As such, the role of the “femme commerçante” represents a new context where power and morality come into play, highlighting how local conceptions of womanhood and female sexuality exist in relation to economic change. Approached through multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Kinshasa, Guangzhou, and Istanbul between 2018 and 2021, this research examines how Congolese women navigate an economic landscape that is premised on social networks and transactional exchanges. More broadly, it seeks to explore how global economic change impacts gender dynamics in the DRC.

Lesley Braun is recipient of the Swiss National Foundation’s Ambizione Grant (2020-2024) and is hosted at the Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Basel, Switzerland. She has taught at Humboldt University in Berlin and has held fellowships at the Forum Transregionale Studien (Berlin), as well as at the University of Chicago in the Department of Comparative Human Development. Thematically, her research investigates the gendered dimensions of transnational mobility, and how gender and sexuality impact, as well as shape women’s activities in the public sphere. Her forthcoming book Congo’s Dancers: Women and Work in Kinshasa will be published with the University of Wisconsin Press in Winter 2023.

Wednesday 14th December 2022 from 5pm to 7pm

Salle Henri Janne
ULB - Campus du Solbosch
Bâtiment S - Niveau 15
Avenue Jeanne 44
1000 Bruxelles

This seminar will take place in English

The registration is required : here

Seating is limited – first come, first served !