Critical Reading of Marxists and Poststructuralists studies on the Participation of Women in Armed Struggle in Eritrea (1961-1991)

This research analyses the Marxists and Poststructuralists scholarship on the participation of women in the national liberation struggle in Eritrea during the period (1961-1991). The main interest is to investigate how concepts like women/gender, participation and emancipation have been conceptualised. In retrospect, a question was asked on how women’s participation has been conceptualised by the two scholarships. In addition to how relevant is the conceptualisation of the two schools for the theorisation of women’s participation in Eritrea? With an intention of achieving the objective of the thesis, to contribute to the literature or theorisation on women’s participation in Eritrea through in-depth examination of writings. The study has found out the two scholarships differ in a number of ways while conceptualising women’s participation in the national liberation struggle, Marxists take uniformity of women’s identity, emphasis on national discourse and highlight on participation leading to emancipation trend. In contrast, Poststructuralist stress on diversity and unfixed women’s identity, focus on lived-realities, and oppose to gendered conceptualisation. Despite their differences, both share commonality in securing women’s wellbeing through enhanced participation.