¿Tiene sexo la nación? Nación y género en la retórica política sobre Irlanda

This article analyses sexual and gender metaphors used in the political rhetoric aboutIreland produced by both British colonialism and Irish nationalism. Departing from BenedictAnderson's formulation of the nation as imagined community, the author examines theshifting of gender categories used in defining Irish identity. The author argues that the linkof gender and national identity coupled with the violent events surrounding the partition ofIreland had important effects on the lives of Irish women best seen in the policies implementedon matters of sexuality and family law that followed the declaration of independence.Este articulo analiza las metáforas sexuales y de género utilizadas en la retórica políticasobre Irlanda, producida por el colonialismo británico y el nacionalismo irlandés. Partiendode la concepción teórica de nación como comunidad imaginada, propugnada por BenedictAnderson, la autora examina los cambios de género que han moldeado la definición de laidentidad irlandesa. La autora sostiene que la conexión entre género e identidad nacional,unida a los violentos sucesos que acompañaron la partición de Irlanda, ha tenido consecuenciasimportantes para las mujeres irlandesas, que pueden identificarse en la legislación sobrematerias de sexualidad y derecho familiar que se implementó tras la consecución de laindependencia

The Politics of Love and Intimacy in Goma, Eastern DR Congo: Perspectives on the Market of Intervention as Contact Zone

This paper takes an ethnographic approach to illuminate everyday interactions relating to physical intimacy and emotional support in Goma's 'market of intervention'. I offer insights into the heterogeneity and complexity of gender identities in the context of protracted war and humanitarian intervention. Conceptualised as a contact zone, the market of intervention illustrates processes of encounter and distancing in Goma's urban space. In particular, the paper offers concrete perspectives on the ambivalent practice of transactional sex and examines it in terms of a conflict between morality and materiality that shapes and (re)configures local gender relations. Taking the issue of love and sex seriously allows one to hone in on processes of profound societal change that challenge constructed and contested notions of femininity and masculinity