Gendered Ecologies of Power: A Theoretical Framework for Women, Natural Resources and the State in South Sudan,

This theoretical framework article addresses a critical lacuna in African political studies: the absence of a cohesive analytical lens for examining the intersection of gender, state power, and natural resource governance in fragile, resource-dependent states. Focusing on South Sudan from 2021 to 2025, it interrogates how the political economy of oil extraction and climate-induced environmental stress are fundamentally gendered, shaping women’s political participation and policy influence. Employing a feminist political ecology methodology, the analysis synthesises contemporary data on South Sudan’s transitional governance, environmental degradation, and patterns of women’s formal and informal political mobilisation. It posits that the state’s patrimonial control over oil revenues and its under-resourced response to climate shocks, such as the catastrophic floods of 2021–2024, co-produce distinct ‘gendered ecologies of power’. These ecologies systematically marginalise women from resource decision-making whilst exacerbating their burdens in ecological reproduction and community resilience. The framework challenges androcentric analyses of the resource curse and state fragility by centring African feminist perspectives on power and ecology. Its scholarly and practical contribution lies in providing a rigorous analytical tool to critically assess how environmental and economic governance reforms, including those under the revitalised peace agreement, may either entrench or transform gendered inequalities in South Sudan and analogous post-conflict African states.