“In the mining sector, women (are not allowed) in the mining fields because you are a bad omen, a taboo…you are told you cannot go close to the oil field because if you go there when they are drilling the oil might disappear or you might cause a drill leak…” (Female, Academic, 2018)
African land resources have been the ‘it’ space for foreign direct investment and transnational corporation’s entry point into the African markets (Brown, 2014). These land resources are particularly valuable given the subaltern ‘goldmine’ therein. The pursuit of these ventures became the main fuel for war and war crimes, corruption, and domination of patriarchy and neo-colonialism in what Sachs and Warner (1997) described as the ‘Dutch curse.’ The projection of men as the center and owners of hegemonic power further provides a visual lens within which power and control over these land resources can be unpacked and understood. Rural communities, in particular, bear the brunt of hosting extractive processes as well as the aftermath of these processes, as seen in Ogoni’s continued tug of war with Shell and the Nigerian government and, most recently, the Congo crisis that has seen communities destroyed to make way for extractive activities (Laudati, & Mertens, 2019). The most impacted are the women and children who find themselves without recourse or voice to push back against this capitalist occupation, owing to their limited ownership, control, and access to land and land resources (Lahiri-Dutt, 2015; 2022). Ownership and control are also firmly in the hands of male relatives in these rural African communities, with men projected as the face of power and, therefore, the main decision-makers in land contract negotiations (See Okong’o, 2024). Unscrupulous rent-seeking behavior has also further disenfranchised and usurped land politics, disempowering these rural communities with corrupt middlemen who often trick and take over the community and private land and resell the same for profit.
“…why are the women not appointed Mr. President? Is it that we are not qualified? Can’t any of us make a PS?.. and he started laughing and said that ‘the problem with women is that you ask for too much, you are already seated with me at the highest table what else do you want? But we told him this is not enough. We can have a cup of tea together and then what?… we want to…make it to top leadership positions.” (Female, Academic, 2018).
As this tug-of-war continues, women’s land rights remain at the fore of understanding the impact of the increased pressures on land and land resources to meet global energy and capitalist demand in a metaphorical and physical raping of the land (Neupert-Wentz, 2020). Extractive industry studies have also continued to place women, particularly rural women, as victims of extractive activities (Laudati & Mertens, 2019). This has had the impact of negating and diluting the resistance and adaptability of women in these capitalist processes. There are also complexities to these patriarchal tenures to land, which are exemplified by the ‘required’ attachments of women to male relatives and spouses. That is, in order for them to exercise their access, ownership, and user rights to land, I argue, takes away their individuality and right to participate and make decisions in land negotiation processes.
“…most leases again do not involve women in terms of decision making…. land in Kenya is still a masculine affair to a large extent. The woman is not consulted…”(Academic, Male, 2015)
On the flip side, these land-use change processes have allowed rural women to take back control and reclaim their voice in the extractives sector. These can be seen through the growing investment into private property ownership and residential property markets, which comprise part of these alternative income streams. This is in addition to the hospitality industry and sex work, which have emerged as critical alternative income sources for these women. These income regimes, whilst still localized, have supported the emergence of a growing size of elite women taking control of their affairs and emerging as formidable boardroom opponents, particularly in county leadership and administrative processes. I argue that this creates a unique balance of power that showcases how women’s organizing has the propensity to alter power hegemonies in patriarchal societies, especially in contexts such as Kenya, whose oil economy is still in its infancy. This has enabled rural women to influence and challenge masculinized land and land rights discourses. It has also brought new opportunities for knowledge production and provided an environment where women’s land rights are respected and adequately compensated.
Author
Dr. Nerea Okong’o (she/her) is a Human Geographer, a feminist, and a decolonial scholar of black African descent. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Sheffield (UoS), an MSc in Sustainability (Environment and Development) from the University of Leeds, and a BA in Sociology from Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. She has over 10 years of experience working on gender and human rights. She is currently a Senior Tutor at the University of Manchester, where she teaches undergraduate courses such as Introduction to Human Geographies; Critical Geographies of Difference, Research Design, and Methods; Decolonising Geographies: Methods, Theories, and Praxis; Field Classes, Development Geographies, Food Geographies, Energy and Space geographies. She defines herself as a teacher of difference, where she employs a decolonial and postcolonial lens with a specific interest in black, feminist, and postcolonial geographies. Her research focuses on the body as a space of power encounters- politically, socio-culturally, and economically with interests in large-scale extractive industries as well as the racial landscape that governs everyday life, borders, and politics of place and belonging. Her point of view is a radical feminist and afro-centric decentring from whilst complementing existing feminist praxis, methodology, and theories. Her work draws on her positionality and uses her embodied experiences to understand scalar and temporal notions of time, identity, care, difference, and equality, delivering nuanced, interesting, provocative, and alternative ways to view the world.
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ORCID: (0000-0002-4331-9498) , X: @DrAmisiOkongo , LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nereah