Democracy's Subjections
Colonial Modernity and the Gendered Subject of Violence
Will be published approx. on 17. September 2026
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-350-54523-6 (ISBN)
Description
In this ground-breaking study, Lyn Ossome offers an authoritative, interdisciplinary theory of how postcolonial capitalist democracies reproduce the gendered forms of violence essential to colonial rule.
Focussing on postcolonial African states, and using an interdisciplinary methodology that combines insights from political studies, feminist political economy, historical studies, and literary studies, Ossome shows how postcolonial, capitalist democracies in Africa, like their colonial antecedents, use various identity-markers to determine whose rights and bodies are violable, to what extent, and whether and how the violated have a right to resist. Ossome buttresses her critique through evidence gathered from colonial archives in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, as well as through critical comparisons of three artistic responses to gender-based violence and rape in South Africa and India, all of which shows how her insights might apply across the postcolonial Global South.
Focussing on postcolonial African states, and using an interdisciplinary methodology that combines insights from political studies, feminist political economy, historical studies, and literary studies, Ossome shows how postcolonial, capitalist democracies in Africa, like their colonial antecedents, use various identity-markers to determine whose rights and bodies are violable, to what extent, and whether and how the violated have a right to resist. Ossome buttresses her critique through evidence gathered from colonial archives in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, as well as through critical comparisons of three artistic responses to gender-based violence and rape in South Africa and India, all of which shows how her insights might apply across the postcolonial Global South.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-54523-6 (9781350545236)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Lyn Ossome is Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University, Uganda, where she is also Associate Professor.
Content
Introduction
1. Colonial Modernity and the Gendered Subject of Violence
2. Customary Law and the Gendered Constitution of Violent Subjectivities
3. "Captive Maternals" and the Modern Subject of Gendered Violence
4. Gender, Ethnicity and the Liberal Democratic State
5. "The Art of the Unspeakable": An Anatomy of Gendered Violence in Postcolonial South Africa and India
6. Democracy's Subjections
1. Colonial Modernity and the Gendered Subject of Violence
2. Customary Law and the Gendered Constitution of Violent Subjectivities
3. "Captive Maternals" and the Modern Subject of Gendered Violence
4. Gender, Ethnicity and the Liberal Democratic State
5. "The Art of the Unspeakable": An Anatomy of Gendered Violence in Postcolonial South Africa and India
6. Democracy's Subjections