Iron Ladies Liberia_Reflection Memo

The movie Iron Ladies of Liberia follows the first year of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presidency, after she was elected as the first African female head of state. While the movie itself is constructed as a portrait of the newly elected president and follows chronologically her steps through the dinamic country, it also reflects many conceptual issues which we can observe. Already at very beginning, in what appears to be a prolog, we can recognize that the problem of framing is still a ongoing issue in African matters. While the pictures of violence, armed clashes and crime appear to us as events rather expected of current Liberia, the movie tries to stand against it, focusing on various other neglected issues which many, not only African sates, are facing. As Gerald Bareebe et al. says „Simplified narratives have for a long time played an important role in the discourse... The unintended consequences of these narratives, Autesserre argues, are severe and include the ignorance of other root causes“. It is evident, that the author wants to dismiss these narratives, proposing a portrait story that redefines the perception on gender, politics and civic dynamics in current Liberia. I chose several concepts that were for me the most intriguing and interesting from both positive and negative perspective: Gender, emancipation of the state, reconciliation and democracy. Considering the role of woman in the government of president Sirleaf it can be proposed that the systemic victimization of woman in African conflict countries has been the sole narrative of gender. However, we can see that while the violence on woman is a pressing all present issue conceptualized at best by Johan Galtungs structural violence, the other side of the coin is without question the new wave of politically empowered woman, who only now are surfacing on the political scene, after a life long governmental career in the shadows of previous leaders. Throughout the whole movie we can observe how the common gender narrative is taken into question by portraying strong women that fight against corruption, violence and injustice. Another great topic of the movie is the problem of emancipation of the state, as after the long rule under Charles Taylor the bureaucratic system embedded patrimonialism as its modus operandi. The newly elected president Sirleaf takes on the issue of dismantling corruption and cronyism. However as she admits, it is much deeper rooted than she expected. The question of democratic rule arises where she admits that democracy is not possible until the state is ready for it. I would therefore suggest, that the coming years after her election are considered more as a middle stage between dictatorship and democracy, a form of autocratic democracy, where the citizens can enjoy their freedoms however only until a certain point and only under a strict supervision by the government, as full democracy in the western sense would endanger the new effort of ending patrimonialism. The most intriguing issue depicted in the movie is however the question of reconciliation, trust, the role of opposition and political plurality. The president is aware that although she has the official sole power to divide and rule Liberia, she has not to ignore the various groups which only few months ago enjoyed privileges and support, but are now left with no reason and no prospects in their life. This is very clearly depicted by the ex-soldiers, who with no political leader left, are now concerned understandably with the means of ensuring theirs livelihood. Demonstrating for their deserved pensions which were promised to them conflicts with the demands of civilians who, as the president clearly pointed out, are the real victims, the one who endured violence, and the one who also crave for financial benefits to be able to continue with their everyday lives. While the president could have limited the activities of Charles Taylors ex-militias to the very minimum, she decided that the only way to achieve peace is through inclusion and inclusive politics. Therefore she allows the opposition to practice their freedoms of protest, but on the other hand faces the demands of the victims. Such a balancing between just and reconciliation seems like a fragile situation that might be overturned by the slightest event. However her approach to reconciliation seems as a very conscious choice. As the president said: „We will not make heroes out of them“. Offering a fair public trial to the ex-president Taylor dismantles the opposition and their strife for martyrs, presenting to the citizens the new order of functioning law and justice. Last but not least, while the movie did a great work dismantling the common stereotypes of pure violence and anarchy in African states, it did however lack a more subjective standpoint toward president Sirleaf first year of presidency. The pictured events were carefully chosen to underline her new reformative politics and her stand against the old rule. A more holistic approach would compliment the movie significantly, depicting also her negative traits ad decisions, as no new government is able to rule a country with such past without doing mistakes.