Is Transitology Relevant for Effective Gender Sensitive Conflict Transformation Practice in Africa?

The continuously evolvement of complex conflicts like terrorism and cyber warfare necessitate the quest for theories that are relevant and applicable across the global geographical divide. This triangulation of theories aids to a better understanding of how past and present human relations, historical dynamics and material conditions intersect to shape conditions for conflict and peace. Few researchers have inquired how the triangulation of old and new theories can enhance an understanding of modern democratic transitions. To address this research gap, I reflect on transitology and feminist epistemology, to explore their relevance, rationality and value addition to the study of conflict transformation in modern Africa. Transitology, one of the oldest theoretical frameworks that enhanced the study of conflict transformation in the West before the end of the Cold War, is majorly criticised as outdated and irrelevant to the study of modern governance and democracy processes (Mohamedou & Sisk, 2017; Saxonberg and Linde, 2016). Likewise feminist epistemology is criticised for narrowly focusing on women and girls’ rights, thus detaching itself from realities of conflict and peace studies (True, 2014; Anderson, 2020). Against this background, I strive to establish the link between transitology - a framework of theories of change towards democracy and feminist epistemology - a framework of theories of change towards inclusive conceptualisations of knowledge, to prove the relevance and rationality of both frameworks, and their capability to catalyse democratic practice towards egalitarian relations and societies. This study contributes to new modalities of knowledge production in the field of women, peace and security. Using secondary data from seventy-five articles, I juxtapose transitology against feminist epistemology, drawing examples from various African countries, to build evidence that demonstrates the relevance of both theoretical frameworks in the study of conflict transformation.