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This article examines how colonial continuities shape the lived experiences of “undocumented” Congolese women in Belgium, focusing on memory, self-narration, and agency. Drawing on decolonial theory and an intersectional framework, it explores how intersections of race, gender, and legal status contribute to their subalternation and alienation. The study emphasizes the role of space, both public and private, in constructing and contesting these women’s identities and memories. In-depth interviews reveal that embodied precarity and the coloniality of space shape women’s agency and everyday practices. The findings show that their memories are continuously remolded by socio-political contexts and colonial legacies, expressed through gendered, racialized relationships with borders within the Belgian national framework. By centering life narratives, this research analyzes the interplay of memory, space, and coloniality, contributing to scholarship on postcolonial migration and memory construction in Belgium.
Taibou Sal (Wed,) studied this question.