Gender and Decolonization in the Congo (PDF)

Karen Bouwer is Professor of French at the University of San Francisco, USA.

"Bouwer draws on literary criticism, a thorough grounding in the historical literature, and her own interviews with one of Lumumba's wives in her efforts to use gender as a means of understanding Lumumba's life and legacy. Her book is an exemplary example of interdisciplinary scholarship and provides a model for scholars seeking to weave literary and historical methods together. This outstanding work deserves a wide audience of scholars. Essential." - CHOICE

'Although a significant amount of writing exists on the history of Congo's decolonization, almost all of it focuses on the political process. With this book, Karen Bouwer adds a much needed gender perspective to this body of work. Gender and Decolonization in the Congo is both a book about women and one that seeks to employ a gender analysis to understand Patrice Lumumba's writings and his life's legacy. In all, this book makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on Congo's decolonization from an understudied perspective, and demonstrates how political legacies are shaped.'-Research in African Literatures

'The study goes a long way towards presenting the first truly groundbreaking investigation of women's political participation in the DRC, a significant subject largely ignored by scholars. Gender and Decolonization in the Congo is richly documented and provides a useful index, an impressive bibliography, a dependable section of notes and rare photographs of Congolese female activists. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this study is that it offers a promising and unfamiliar approach into the subject of decolonization in the DRC. Gender and Decolonization in the Congo is a serious work of academic scholarship, able to stir the minds of specialists in the field of gender studies, history, politics, diaspora studies, development studies and literary studies.'-Gender & Social Justice

"Karen Bouwer has excavated Congolese women by shedding lighton their role in the