Quintero Tamez, Lucia; (2025) Problematising Corporal Punishment Policies in Ivorian Schools: a Network Ethnography grounded in National Middle-Level Policy Actors’ Experiences. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Corporal punishment (CP) remains pervasive in primary schools of Côte d’Ivoire, with estimates ranging from 25% (Balliet, 2024) to 63% (MENET-CI / UNICEF, 2015) of students experiencing it. Despite numerous initiatives aimed at reducing its prevalence, there is still limited understanding of which policies are truly effective particularly in contexts where many educators endorse it. To address this gap, in this critical policy study I examine how CP policies are interpreted and enacted within the Ivorian context. Drawing on a post-structuralist epistemology and post-development thought I conduct a network ethnography that integrates social network analysis, genealogy, and qualitative interviews to explore how discourses, power relations, and socio-historical contexts shape the enactment of CP policy. Central to this analysis are Ivorian middle space policy actors, comprised of government civil servants, and national staff from civil society and international organisations. These actors occupy a middle role, navigating and shaping the discourse between international and local realities but are often overlooked in research. Findings reveal that the Ivorian CP policy network is structured in ways that concentrate decision-making power internationally, reinforcing historical asymmetries and privileging externally defined, short-term interventions. National middle actors, while far from passive, operate within a system that structurally disincentivises collaboration and long-term, context-sensitive engagement. Their efforts to promote more grounded approaches are frequently constrained by dominant rights-based and development discourses that marginalise local knowledge and aspirations. This configuration exposes the limitations of prevailing discourses around local ownership and participation, which often fail to translate into meaningful shifts in power. Yet, within these constraints, national middle space actors engage in forms of counterwork, practices that mutate dominant narratives and carve out space for alternative enactments of CP policy. Ultimately this study examines what interrogating prevailing discourses, analysing policy network power, and considering local expertise can contribute to the development of more effective CP policies. It highlights the value of embracing complexity and adopting a broader definition of violence that includes structural and symbolic dimensions. In doing so, it offers a critical lens through which to reimagine CP policy enactment in Côte d’Ivoire.

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