A Gender-Just Peace? Exploring the Post-Dayton Peace Process in Bosnia

Citation:

Björkdahl, Annika. 2012. “A Gender-Just Peace? Exploring the Post-Dayton Peace Process in Bosnia.” Peace & Change 37 (2): 286–317. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0130.2011.00746.x.

Author: Annika Björkdahl

Abstract:

This article is rooted in the understanding that global ideas of liberal democratic peace and the gendered dynamics of peacebuilding need to be confronted. The aim is to explore the challenges of localizing liberal democratic peace by exploring efforts such as those undertaken by women’s organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina to promote a gender-just peace. The Dayton Peace Accord was the new “social contract” that set the standard for postwar societies. The gendered hierarchies built into this peace and the absence of women in the peace process created a “peace gap” that was gendered despite the fact that gender empowerment has become a standard tool in international peacebuilding. The post-Dayton peace process was characterized by a conservative backlash which has become a hallmark of women’s postwar experience.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2012