Peacebuilding

Sexual Violence, Coltan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Citation:

Whitman, Shelly. 2010. “Sexual Violence, Coltan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” In Critical Environmental Security: Rethinking the Links between Natural Resources and Political Violence, edited by Schnurr, Matthew A., and Larry A. Swatuk, 1–17. Halifax, NS, Canada: Dalhousie University Centre for Foreign Policy Studies.

Author: Shelly Whitman

Annotation:

 “There is a local Kiswahili saying that says “Congo is a big country – you will eat it until you tire away!” This is precisely what many armed groups, neighbouring countries, Western states and multinational companies have done over the past 100 years to the DRC. The raping of the country’s natural resources has coincided with the increased sexual violence endured by the women of the country. I will contend that it is not the abundance or scarcity of resources per se that determines conflict and violence, but the way they are governed, who has access to them and for what purposes they are used.

The DRC is an example of the new issues that face environmental security analysts. Environmental security must take account of the human security elements that challenge our understandings of the connection among the environment, resource extraction and conflict. How are civilians targeted deliberately in this quest for natural resources that often underpins and drives the conflicts that currently exist? Failure to see the connections has resulted in a failure adequately to seek peaceful and meaningful long-term solutions to conflicts such as those occurring in the DRC.” (Whitman, 2010, p. 2).

 “How are civilians targeted deliberately in this quest for natural resources that often underpins and drives the conflicts that currently exist?” (p. 2).

“While the various foreign (and domestic) armies that have been involved in the DRC claim security as the main justification for their presence, all have been accused of the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of the DRC” (p. 5).

Price of coltan before PlayStation 2 and laptops used it: $30/lb; after: $380 (p. 10)

Led to coltan rush in eastern DRC; violence increases when speculation surges

Survey: companies feel they can’t do anything else, pass the buck to suppliers and the Congolese government (p. 12).

Ban on extraction and sale won’t solve anything—regulation and protection so it can be used for good, accountability for both extraction and sexual violence (p. 13).

 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Economies, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Governance, Multi-National Corporations, Peacebuilding, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2010

Women in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Citation:

Hayes, Karen, and Rachel Perks. 2011. “Women in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” In High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. London: Earthscan.

Authors: Rachel Perks, Karen Hayes

Annotation:

"This chapter focuses on women who work and live in the diverse, complex, and often-neglected artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) communities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). ASM encompasses both the manual extraction and processing of minerals and their subsequent trade. Much of ASM is informal, and it is often characterized by dangerous practices and harmful social and environmental impacts. Although many ASM communities have existed for years or even centuries, other communities have begun to engage in mining relatively recently, mostly as a result of poverty" (Hayes and Perks, 2012,  529).

“ASM (Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining) supports 16 to 20 percent of the population of the DRC and is a critical economic driver in the country’s move out of war (World Bank 2008)” (529).

“As currently practiced in the DRC, however, ASM is inefficient because the technical skills required to identify, plan, develop, and exploit mines to their full potential are lacking. As a consequence, ASM ends up degrading the overall value of the ore body while simultaneously consuming or contaminating other resources—such as wood, land, and water—which could be essential to livelihoods once the ore is exhausted” (532).

“The research also found that women’s involvement in ASM was primarily poverty driven: 75 percent of the women interviewed in 2007 had been mining for less than two years, and 70 percent were their families’ sole earners (Pact 2007)” (533).

“Pact regards ASM areas as crucial to the overall peacebuilding agenda for DRC for the following reasons:

"ASM offers the potential for substantial economic dividends for both individuals and families—dividends that could be even more significant if ASM were properly organized and responsibly managed.

"Women working in ASM face significant social and health consequences whose long-term impact remains unknown. Increasing security for women and ensuring that ASM meets basic health and safety standards would help mitigate negative impacts and potentially increase women’s productivity in the sector.

"The ASM sector remains subject to resource governance conflicts that are pertinent to the DRC’s larger peacebuilding agenda. For example, several reports published by Pact and International Alert address the importance of improving governance to ensure more equitable remuneration for artisanal miners (Pact 2010; Spittaels 2010). Women’s concerns are intricately linked to this overall reform agenda” (p. 540).

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Economies, Poverty, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2011

Engendering Civil Society: Oil, Women Groups and Resource Conflicts in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Citation:

Ikelegbe, Augustine. 2005. “Engendering Civil Society: Oil, Women Groups and Resource Conflicts in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 43 (2): 241–70. doi:10.2307/3876206.

Author: Augustine Ikelegbe

Abstract:

Civil society has been an active mobilisational and agitational force in the resource conflicts of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria. The paper examines the gender segment of civil society and its character, forms and roles in these conflicts. The central argument is that marginality can be a basis of gendered movements and their engagement in struggles for justice, accommodation and fair access to benefits. Utilising secondary data and primary data elicited from oral interviews, the study identifies and categorises women groupings and identifies their roles and engagements in the oil economy. It finds that community women organisations (CWOs), with the support of numerous grass-roots women organisations, are the most active and frequently engaged in the local oil economies, where they have constructed and appropriated traditional women protests as an instrument of engagement. The paper notes the implications of women protest engagements and particularly their exasperation with previous engagements, the depth of their commitments, and the extension of the struggle beyond the threshold of normal social behaviour.

Annotation:

  • Women constitute a large portion of subsistence farmers, fisherwomen and informal sector in Nigeria; marginalized in trickle down of benefits from MNCs (Shell has a female capacity building program), but women are not recognized as owners of land or water resources, underemployed by MNC, and excluded from compensation for acquisition, pollution and devastation of farmlands and fishing waters (242)
  • Women led peaceful mass actions against oil companies; now, NGOs and MNCs are focusing on how women can help peace-building capacity in the region (242)
  • Women’s organizations are primarily on the rise in the informal sector (market associations, cooperatives and informal credit) -- Mobilization, autonomy to challenge status quo, define own interests and set own agendas (245)
  • Women’s groups preceded colonialism, were a part of traditional governance systems; Subordinated by colonial and post-colonial groupings and the addition of colonies of migrants, settlers, workers and artisans (249)
  • Categories of women’s groups: local/traditional governance structures (MNC calls to action; leverage with community – threaten to relocate or protest naked; mutual support system); communities/clans; influence-seeking groups (250)
    • Socioeconomic, pan-ethnic and regional since the 1970s
    • National groups are few and mostly professional
  • Economic downturn has led to more oil and gas exploration for rents and MNC profits, exacerbating pollution, poverty, hunger, unemployment, and anger.
  • Brunt of oil economy: women are largely sedentary farmers and thus suffer most from land degradation and loss, driven from fishing by gas flaring, prostitution rings for oil workers, and men leave to work for oil companies (254)
  • Women have threatened to seal off oil wells; Women and men together shut down Shell production facilities and protested land acquisition. (256)
  • Limitations on female involvement (266-7):
    • Local demands for development, employment and empowerment are greater than national demands for control, derivation and restructuring
    • Women lack the resources for causes that are not cultural or communal although community women’s organizations derive their strength from being culturally-based
    • Women are traditionally the last resort, demonstrating that the local threshold has been reached

Quotes:

“How have women emerged to articulate gender-related issues and mobilize themselves? Through what means and structures are women mobilized to address perceived grievances in the oil economy? Do women have associational voices in the economy of oil at the community, ethnic, pan-ethnic, state and regional levels? What kinds of women civil and community groups exist and at what level? Are women grass-root community organizations making any impact on the oil economy? In particular, what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potentials? Are there linkages, networks or organization frameworks within and beyond the community women groups?” (242)

Topics: Civil Society, Economies, Poverty, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Governance, Justice, Multi-National Corporations, NGOs, Nonviolence, Peacebuilding, Political Participation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2005

Gender, Culture, and Conflict Resolution in Palestine

Citation:

Richter-Devroe, Sophie. 2008. “Gender, Culture, and Conflict Resolution in Palestine.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 4 (2): 30–59.

Author: Sophie Richter-Devroe

Abstract:

Conflict resolution theory and praxis have been criticized for being insensitive to local cultures and, particularly, for not considering culturally specific gender roles carefully enough. Yet, on the other hand, culturally sensitive and gender-friendly approaches have also been found to be incompatible with each other—so what are we to make of these overlapping and contradictory criticisms of the relatively new scholarly discipline of conflict resolution? Can community-based peace-building indeed be either gender-friendly or sensitive to culture only? Tracing Palestinian women’s different forms of political activism in the national struggle and/or peace-building initiatives, his paper critically discusses a variety of gendered conflict resolution approaches and concludes that, contrary to such charges, contextualized culturally specific gender norms might in fact prove conducive to both gender empowerment and conflict resolution.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Political Participation Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2007

From Sierra Leone to Kosovo: Exploring Possibilities for Gendered Peacebuilding

Citation:

Cole, Courtney E., and Stephanie Norander. 2011. “From Sierra Leone to Kosovo: Exploring Possibilities for Gendered Peacebuilding.” Women & Language 34 (1): 29-49.

Authors: Courtney E. Cole , Stephanie Norander

Abstract:

Peacebuilding is a gendered process that has provoked feminists to critique the ways in which gender has become a popular initiative within international peace and conflict work. In this essay, we explore how gendered approaches to peacebuilding that draw upon themes of transnational feminisms might provide alternative possibilities for women and men. We do this by featuring the work of two organizations–Fambul Tok, a U.S.-based organization working in Sierra Leone, and Kvinna till Kvinna, a Swedish-based organization working in several post-conflict areas. Our analysis points toward the potential for redefining peacebuilding, transforming gender relations, and reconfiguring global-local relationships.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2011

Gender Violence, Conflict, Internal Displacement and Peacebuilding

Citation:

Rajagopalan, Swarna. 2010. “Gender Violence, Conflict, Internal Displacement and Peacebuilding.” Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding 3 (1).

Author: Swarna Rajagopalan

Abstract:

The overlay of conflict, displacement and gender violence is altogether so traumatic as to beg the question: is true, sustainable peace possible where the experience of gender violence is both widespread and deeply embedded? A discussion about gender violence and peace-building takes us back to very old questions about peace and justice, which this essay explores by summarising what we know about gender violence, conflict and displacement.

Keywords: displacement, gender violence, sustainable peace, peace-building

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Justice, Peacebuilding

Year: 2010

Gender, Conflict, and Building Sustainable Peace: Recent Lessons from Latin America

Citation:

Moser, Caroline O. N., and Fiona C. Clark. 2001. “Gender, Conflict, and Building Sustainable Peace: Recent Lessons from Latin America.” Gender & Development 9 (3): 29–39.

Authors: Caroline O. N. Moser, Fiona C. Clark

Abstract:

Latin American experiences of conflict and building sustainable peace have tended to show a clear neglect of a gender analysis of the impacts of conflict and the peace negotiations that end it, much to the detriment of many women and men affected by and involved in the civil conflicts that have ravaged the region during the last thirty years. What do Colombian women and men have to learn from these experiences? In May 2000, a workshop entitled 'Latin American Experiences of Gender, Conflict, and Building Sustainable Peace' was held in Bogota, Colombia with representatives from several Latin American countries. This paper briefly highlights some of the issues raised at the workshop and aims to provide lessons and recommendations for others working in the fields of conflict analysis and resolution, humanitarian assistance, and interventions for peace and development.

Keywords: sustainable peace, gender analysis, Colombia, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian intervention

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Gender Analysis, Humanitarian Assistance, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2001

Gender, Militarism, and Peace-Building: Projects of the Postconflict Moment

Citation:

Moran, Mary H. 2010. “Gender, Militarism, and Peace-Building: Projects of the Postconflict Moment.” Annual Review of Anthropology 39 (1): 261-74. doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164406.

Author: Mary H. Moran

Abstract:

Scholars have argued for decades about the relationship between biological sex and organized violence, but feminist analysts across numerous disciplines have documented the range and variety of gendered roles in times of war. In recent years, research has brought new understanding of the rapidity with which ideas about masculinity and femininity can change in times of war and the role of militarization in constructing and enforcing the meaning of manhood and womanhood. In the post-Cold War period, 'new wars' have mobilized gender in multiple ways, and peace-building is often managed by external humanitarian organizations. A strange disconnect exists between the massive body of scholarly research on gender, militarism, and peace-building and on-the-ground practices in postconflict societies, where essentialized ideas of men as perpetrators of violence and women as victims continue to guide much program design.

Topics: Armed Conflict, "New Wars", Feminisms, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Militarization, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Violence

Year: 2010

‘Stop Rape Now?’: Masculinity, Responsibility, and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Citation:

Grey, Rosemary, and Laura J. Shepherd. 2013. “‘Stop Rape Now?’: Masculinity, Responsibility, and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.” Men and Masculinities 16 (1): 115-35. doi:10.1177/1097184X12468101.

Authors: Rosemary Grey, Laura J. Shepherd

Abstract:

Inspired by the themes of violence, masculinity and responsibility, this article investigates the visibility of male victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in war. Despite the passing of UNSCR 1820 in 2008, the formulation of UN ACTION (United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict), and the appointment of a United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General to lead policy and practice in this issue area, we argue here that male survivors/victims remain a marginal concern, which has, among other consequences, profound implications for the facilities that exist to support male victims/survivors during and after periods of active conflict. In the first section of the article, we provide an overview of the contemporary academic literature on rape in war, not only to act as the foundation for the analytical work that follows but also to illustrate the argument that male survivors/victims of sexualised violence in war are near-invisible in the majority of literature on this topic. Second, we turn our analytical lens to the policy environment charged with addressing sexualised violence in conflict. Through a discourse analysis focussed on the website of UN ACTION (www.stoprapenow.org), we demonstrate that this lack of vision in academic work maps directly to a lack of visibility in the policy arena. The third section of the article explores the arrangements in place within extant peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction programmes that aim to facilitate recovery with victims/survivors of sexualised violence in war. We conclude with reflections on the themes of violence, masculinity and responsibility in the context of sexualised violence in war and suggest that in this context all privileged actors have a responsibility to theorise violence with careful attention to gender in order to avoid perpetuating models of masculinity and war-rape that have potentially pernicious effects.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, International Organizations, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1820, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Men, Violence

Year: 2013

Forces for Good? Military Masculinities and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan and Iraq

Citation:

Duncanson, Claire. 2013. Forces for Good? Military Masculinities and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan and Iraq. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Author: Claire Duncanson

Abstract:

"Forces for Good?” explores British soldier 'herographies' to identify constructions of gender, race, class and nation and their consequences on complex, multi-dimensional operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This book aims to intervene in the debates within critical feminist scholarship over whether soldiers can ever be agents of peace. Many feminist analyses of military intervention point to the way in which interventions are legitimated by gendered narratives where representatives of civilization are tasked with addressing violent conflict in troubled lands, a story which distracts from the root causes of the violence and enables the furthering of a neoliberal agenda. This book advances this critique by adding the important but hitherto neglected case of the British Army, and challenges its determinism, which Duncanson argues to be normatively, empirically and theoretically problematic. Exploring the impact of identity and gender constructions on the prospects for successful peacebuilding, this book will appeal to a range of scholars in politics, international relations, peace studies, gender and women's studies, sociology and anthropology. (WorldCat)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Class, Combatants, Male Combatants, Gender, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacebuilding, Race Regions: Africa, MENA, Asia, Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, United Kingdom

Year: 2013

Pages

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