Description
Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in South Africa, this paper analyses the gendered dynamics of trauma in post-conflict environments. Whilst a burgeoning literature in International Relations has come to theorise trauma in relation to memory, agency, and power, there has been limited engagement with the concept’s gendered dimensions. The current paper seeks to address this gap by analysing the relationship between trauma and gender in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It asserts that during the TRC, trauma became a common language to communicate pain and suffering. However, the lived experience reveals that a medicalized and masculinized conceptualisation of trauma served only a privileged few. Specifically, a gendered analysis demonstrates that not everyone was able to speak of trauma; only those who conformed to an eventalised conceptualisation of Apartheid violence. Inspired by intersectional feminism, this paper argues that the South African TRC is a crucial example of the interaction of trauma with hierarchies of gender and race. This has critical implications for justice and security in South Africa.
