Gendered Resource Governance in South Sudan: A Case Study of Women’s Political Participation and the Political Economy of Oil

This case study examines the intersection of gendered political participation and the political economy of oil in South Sudan from 2021 to 2023. It addresses the critical research problem of how formal commitments to women’s inclusion, notably the 35% quota under the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement, translate into substantive influence over the governance of the country’s primary natural resource. The analysis employs a rigorous qualitative methodology, drawing on triangulated data from policy document analysis, 27 semi-structured interviews with women legislators and civil society leaders conducted between 2021 and 2023, and a review of budgetary allocations to gender-sensitive programmes linked to oil revenues. The study argues that, despite increased descriptive representation, women’s political agency remains circumscribed by a deeply entrenched petro-masculine political settlement. Key findings demonstrate that elite patronage networks, sustained by oil revenues, systematically marginalise women from core decision-making on environmental governance, revenue allocation, and climate adaptation strategies, thereby perpetuating gendered economic vulnerabilities. The case underscores that without disrupting the underlying political economy, quota systems alone cannot foster transformative, gendered resource governance. Its significance lies in contributing an African-centred analysis to debates on post-conflict resource management, demonstrating how the exclusion of women from hydrocarbon governance directly undermines sustainable development and equitable climate resilience in South Sudan.