Public Lecture: “Women, slavery and social mobility in Eastern Congo since the 1870s”; Speaker: Margot Luyckfasseel

Abstract:

This lecture focuses on the experiences of women who became part of the East African trade caravan system in the late 19th century in what is today the Eastern DRCongo, whether it was through enslavement or marriage. While this history has been mostly narrated as explicitly male – not least because of colonial biases –, I argue that women were pivotal for the functioning of the caravan system. First, I explore the methodological challenges in centering female experiences through oral and archival accounts. Second, building on Osborn’s concept “the household as statecraft” (2011), I show that foreign traders were highly dependent on women to ensure local authority. 

Margot Luyckfasseel is Junior Research Professor in Modern African History at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She specializes in Congolese history from below (late 19th century to present), with a thematic focus on urban dynamics, language ideologies, and (post)colonial power relations. Additionally, she is developing an interest in socio-economic themes such as slavery and trade. Together with Felicitas Becker, Clélia Coret and Jonathon Glassman, she is the editor of The Aftermaths of Slavery in East Africa, a forthcoming double volume with Palgrave. 

The lecture series is free and open to the public. 

For online participation please use the following link:

https://uni-freiburg.zoom-x.de/j/67807788893?pwd=b1kbUUTqBzUctbg4qG4lgf6tr0oTUl.1

Meeting-ID: 678 0778 8893

Kenncode: f2SY5UiHL