Ireland

Citation:

Sanford, Victoria, Katerina  Stefatos, and Cecila M. Salvi. 2016. Gender Violence in Peace and War: States of Complicity. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Authors: Victoria Sanford, Katerina Stefatos, Cecila M. Salvi

Annotation:

Topics: Conflict, Domestic Violence, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Mainstreaming, Peace and Security, Peace Processes, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, Central America, Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe Countries: Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Russian Federation

Year: 2016

Citation:

Gilmartin, Niall. 2017. “Feminism, Nationalism and the Re-Ordering of Post- War Political Strategies: The Case of the Sinn Féin Women’s Department.” Irish Political Studies 32 (2): 268-92.

Author: Niall Gilmartin

Abstract:

Feminist criticisms of nationalism as a patriarchal structure often cite post-war regression, among others, as robust evidence of the pitfalls for women’s participation within such highly gendered movements. Based on in-depth interviews, this article critically examines the case of the Sinn Féin Women’s Department, and in particular focuses on the reasons for its ambiguous demise in the aftermath of the 1994 IRA cessation. While the ending of the Women’s Department appears to perfectly fulfil the consistent pattern of nationalism’s post-war regression, I argue that the roots of its downfall reside not in nationalism as such but in the institutionalisation of Provisional republicanism. As the republican movement ‘professionalised’ itself in preparation for its post-Troubles electoral struggle, we see a marked contrast in the ways in which women’s equality is conceptualised and pursued. In particular, as the radical organising of the Women’s Department is furtively wound down, what emerged in its place, the Equality Department embraced visions and strategies that are largely indistinguishable from any other mainstream political party. Despite Sinn Féin’s progressive record on promoting women, it appears that feminism is now consigned by the republican movement to its ‘revolutionary past’ and the radical politics of yester-year.

Keywords: Republican women, feminism, nationalism, Sinn Fein Women's Department, conflict transition

Topics: Feminisms, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Nationalism, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2017

Citation:

Kennedy, Ronan, Claire Pierson, and Jennifer Thomson. 2016. “Challenging Identity Hierarchies: Gender and Consociational Power-Sharing.” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 18 (3): 618-33.

Authors: Ronan Kennedy, Claire Pierson, Jennifer Thomson

Abstract:

Consociational democracy has become the most influential paradigm in the field of powersharing institutional design and post-conflict peacebuilding. Consociation institutes representation for certain formerly excluded groups. However, it simultaneously inhibits effective political representation for groups that do not align with the societal divisions that consociation seeks to accommodate, specifically the ‘additional’ cleavage of gender. Given the extensive use of the consociational model as a peacebuilding tool in divided states and the growing awareness of the disproportionate negative effect of conflict on women, there is a surprising lack of consideration of the effect that consociational power-sharing has on women’s representation. This article considers the specific impact that the consociational model has on women’s representation. We argue that because gender is an integral factor in conflict, it should therefore be integral to postconflict governance. With empirical reference to contemporary Northern Ireland, it is illustrated that consociationalism is a ‘gender-blind’ theory.

Keywords: consocationalism, Gender, Northern Ireland, post-conflict, power-sharing

Topics: Gender, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2016

Citation:

Thomson, Jennifer. 2019. “Feminising Politics, Politicising Feminism? Women in Post-Conflict Northern Irish Politics.” British Politics January, 1–17.

Author: Jennifer Thomson

Abstract:

2018 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and the establishment of devolved governance in Northern Ireland. Yet, whilst devolution has largely been held to have positive effects in Scotland and Wales with regards to both women’s descriptive and substantive representation, this impact has been less discernible in Northern Ireland. Of the four regions of the United Kingdom, politics in Northern Ireland is arguably the most unfeminised—women have routinely seen lower descriptive representation in the Northern Irish Assembly and policy-making in areas such as reproductive rights lies far behind the rest of the UK. The article explores why politics is so unfeminised in the post-conflict context in Northern Ireland, by looking at efforts to feminise formal politics (especially the various peace/inter-party agreements and attempts to include women in formal politics) and efforts to politicise feminist activism (the work of the women’s sector to influence policy-making in the province). It then explores some of the academic explanations as to why the feminisation of politics remains so difficult in Northern Ireland.

Keywords: women, Gender, Northern Ireland, post-conflict, Peace agreeements

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2019

Citation:

Waylen, Georgina. 2014. “A Seat at the Table—Is It Enough? Gender, Multiparty Negotiations, and Institutional Design in South Africa and Northern Ireland.” Politics & Gender 10 (4): 495–523. 

Author: Georgina Waylen

Abstract:

Women actors and gender concerns have often been absent from the negotiated settlements that bring an end to violent conflicts and create new political institutions. And although scholars and activists argue that both women actors and gender concerns should be incorporated, there is less consensus about how this can happen effectively. Taking up Jane Mansbridge's (2014, 11) recent call for political scientists to analyze “negotiations to agreement” and the institutions that facilitate negotiations, this paper argues that analyzing not only the involvement of women and gender actors and their outcomes, but also the form and structure of the negotiations themselves, will give us a greater understanding of how these processes are gendered. Through a comparative analysis of two negotiated settlements—in South Africa and Northern Ireland—this paper examines how institutional design processes were gendered and the impact that gender actors (understood here as actors organizing around gender interests) had on these “new” institutions/structures. In each case, women, organized as women, attempted to influence from the inside the creation of new institutional frameworks intended to end long-standing conflicts. (Cambridge University Press) 
 

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Conflict, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland, South Africa

Year: 2014

Citation:

Bloom, Mia. 2011. Bombshell: The Many Faces of Women Terrorists. London: Hurst Publishers. http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/bombshell/.

Author: Mia Bloom

Abstract:

The ultimate stealth weapon, female terrorists kill on average four times more people than their male counterparts. But why are more women drawn to terrorism than ever before? Do women volunteer to be terrorists, or are they coerced? Does women’s participation in terrorism have any positive impact on their place in society?

In Bombshell, Mia Bloom seeks to understand what motivates women and to redress the gap in our understanding of women’s roles by interviewing women previously involved in terrorist groups. Bloom provides a unique and rare first-hand glimpse into the psychology, culture and social networks of women who become terrorists. Bombshell takes an in-depth look at women involved in terrorism in Chechnya, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Palestine, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, the UK, and the USA.

Drawing on primary research and secondary literature, Bloom examines the increasing role of women in terrorism, and considers what it means for the societies from which they come.

(Hurst Publishers)

Keywords: gender studies, terrorism

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Terrorism Regions: Africa, MENA, East Africa, Americas, North America, South America, Asia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America

Year: 2011

Citation:

Banerjee, Sikata. 2012. Muscular Nationalism: Gender, Violence, and Empire in India and Ireland, 1914-2004. Gender and Political Violence. New York: New York University Press. http://nyupress.org/books/9780814789766/.

Author: Sikata Banerjee

Abstract:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Nationalism, Political Participation, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Western Europe Countries: India, Ireland

Year: 2012

Citation:

McWilliams, Monica, and Avila Kilmurray. 2015. “From the Global to the Local: Grounding UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Post Conflict Policy Making.” Women’s Studies International Forum 51 (July): 128–35. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.11.006.

Authors: Monica McWilliams, Avila Kilmurray

Annotation:

Topics: Gender, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland, United Kingdom

Year: 2015

Citation:

Gilmartin, Niall. 2015. “Negotiating New Roles: Irish Republican Women and the Politics of Conflict Transformation.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 17 (1): 58–76. doi:10.1080/14616742.2013.806060.

Author: Niall Gilmartin

Abstract:

Based on in-depth interviews, this article critically assesses the current roles that Republican women occupy as the North of Ireland continues to emerge from conflict. In doing so, it argues that women's political mobilization during the conflict period can be carried forward into post-war scenarios; however, it is the nature of that activism that proves problematic. The conflict transformation period witnessed a more highly formalized role for Republicans that contrasts sharply with radical spaces opened up during the conflict; in particular, the re-emergence of rigid state institutions coupled with formal political parties appears to severely restrict women's sense of political mobility. As Republicans move away from ‘revolutionary agitation’ into more formalized politics, many Republican women are encountering cultural and structural barriers to their involvement within that realm. This research finds that while some women are participating within the sphere of formal politics, many are continuing their political activities within the community and voluntary sector, which they view as a far more effective mechanism for exerting political agency.

Keywords: Republican women, feminism, North of Ireland, conflict resolution, female combatants, women's activism

Topics: Civil Society, Development, Gender, Women, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2015

Citation:

Byrne, Siobhan. 2014. “Troubled Engagement in Ethnicized Conflict.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 16 (1): 106–26. doi:10.1080/14616742.2012.757020.

Author: Siobhan Byrne

Abstract:

Feminist cross-community initiatives, which emerged in Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine in the 1980s, are frequently lauded in the gender and conflict literature as evidence of the ways in which women can work across ethnonational boundaries. In particular, the theory of ‘transversal dialogue’, developed by Nira Yuval-Davis and adopted by other feminist scholars and activists, suggests that participants have developed a mode of dialogue that enables them to acknowledge differences while developing common goals. In ethicized conflict, transversal politics is understood as an alternative to the essentializing of ‘identity politics’ as well as their undemocratic character. The empirical research, however, suggests that identity politics remains relevant for participants, particularly when cross-community dialogue is limited by external political realities and internal community divisions. In my view, understanding the ways in which identity politics contributes to the development of feminist goals related to women's inclusion in peace processes and post-conflict peace-building is not at odds with transversal politics; rather, women use both modes of politics to build feminist networks and tackle women's marginalization in hyper-masculinized and militarized zones of ethnicized conflict.

Keywords: cross-community feminist activism, ethnicized conflict, identity politics, Israel/Politics, Northern Ireland, transversalism

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, MENA, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland, Israel

Year: 2014