Towards an African Theoretical Framework: A Critical Analysis of Djiboutian Women's Studies, 2021-2026

This article addresses a critical gap in context-specific analytical tools within African Women’s Studies by developing a novel theoretical framework grounded in the empirical realities of Djiboutian women. It critiques prevailing models, often imported from Western or broader African feminist discourses, for inadequately capturing women’s unique positionality within Djibouti’s urbanising, multi-ethnic, and geopolitically strategic setting. To bridge this gap, the study employs a critical discourse analysis of a defined corpus comprising scholarly literature, national policy documents, and digital activist materials from 2021 to 2026. The analytical process involves systematic coding and thematic interrogation of these texts, focusing on issues of economic precarity in informal sectors, political representation, and the negotiation of customary and state legal systems. From this empirical analysis, the article derives and systematically develops a grounded theoretical framework centred on the concepts of ‘strategic resilience’ and ‘intersectional sovereignty’. These terms are defined and operationalised to elucidate how Djiboutian women exercise adaptive agency to navigate complex transnational influences, climate-induced vulnerabilities, and entrenched patriarchal structures. The framework’s significance lies in its contribution to decolonising knowledge production, offering a locally-grounded analytical lens. It provides scholars and policymakers with a more nuanced tool for interpreting women’s experiences in the Horn of Africa, advocating for epistemologically aligned research and interventions.