Governance

Citation:

Indirastuti, Catharina, and Andi Misbahul Pratiwi. 2019. “When Wetlands Dry: Feminist Political Ecology Study on Peat Ecosystem Degradation in South and Central Kalimantan.” Jurnal Perempuan 24 (4): 335-49.

Authors: Catharine Indirastuti, Andi Misbahul

Abstract:

INDONESIAN ABSTRACT: 

Indonesia memiliki 47 persen lahan gambut tropis dari total lahan gambut dunia. Namun sayangnya tata kelola lahan gambut yang berkelanjutan belum banyak diterapkan dalam pemanfaatan lahan gambut, alih-alih menjadi rumah bagi keanekaragaman hayati, lahan gambut di Indonesia justru berakhir kering, terbakar, dan beralih menjadi perkebunan monokultur. Persoalan degradasi ekosistem gambut adalah akibat dari politik tata kelola lingkungan yang tidak berkelanjutan--yang menyejarah. Penelitian ini memperlihatkan kompleksitas politik tata kelola kawasan gambut dan dampaknya terhadap perempuan dengan lensa ekologi politik feminis. Penelitian ini dilakukan di beberapa desa di Kalimantan Tengah dan Selatan, kawasan gambut tropis terbesar di Indonesia. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa 1) Ada persoalan salah tata kelola lahan gambut yang disadari perempuan desa baik secara praktis maupun politis; 2) perempuan dan anak perempuan mendapatkan dampak berlapis dari degradasi ekosistem gambut yakni, perempuan tercerabut dari ruang hidup, perempuan sulit mendapatkan sumber air dan pangan, perempuan mengambil alih peran kepala keluarga karena laki-laki bermigrasi namun tidak selalu diakui perannya sebagai kepala keluarga, dan perempuan dimiskinkan karena kehilangan kemandiriannya dan harus bekerja sebagai buruh sawit. Penelitian ini menggunakan kajian ekologi politik feminis sebagai alat analisis untuk melihat ketertindasan berlapis yang dialami perempuan pedesaan akibat degradasi ekosistem gambut. 

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 
Indonesia tropical peatlands area is 47 percent of out of the total global peatlands. But unfortunately, sustainable peatland governance has not been widely applied in the management of peatlands, instead of being home to biodiversity, peatlands in Indonesia have ended up dry, burning and turned into monoculture plantations. The problem of peat ecosystem degradation is the result of unsustainable - historical environmental governance politics. This study shows the political complexity of peatland governance and its impact on women with a feminist political ecology lens. This research was conducted in several villages in Central and South Kalimantan, the largest tropical peat areas in Indonesia. This study found that 1) Rural women were realized that there are problems with peatland governance, both practically and politically; 2) women and girls have multiple impacts from peat ecosystem degradation ie, women are deprived of living space, women find it difficult to get water and food sources, women take over the role of the head of the family because men migrate but are not always recognized as the head of the family, and women are impoverished because they lose their independence and must work as oil palm workers. This study uses a feminist political ecology study as an analytical tool to see the multi-layered oppression experienced by rural women due to peat ecosystem degradation. 

Keywords: rural women, peatland village, peat ecosystem, feminist political ecology, resource governance, perempuan desa, desa gambut, ekosistem gambut, ekologi politik feminis, tata kelola sumber daya

Topics: Agriculture, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Indonesia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Adams, Ellis Adjei, Luke Juran, and Idowu Ajibade. 2018. “‘Spaces of Exclusion’ in Community Water Governance: a Feminist Political Ecology of Gender and Participation in Malawi’s Urban Water User Associations.” Geoforum. doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.06.016

Authors: Ellis Adjei Adams, Luke Juran, Idowu Ajibade

Abstract:

Much of the literature on gender dimensions of community-based water governance focuses on irrigation systems in rural areas. Largely overlooked is how gender dynamics influence participation in community-based urban water governance systems. To address this gap, we use insights from Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) to examine whether and how community-based governance of drinking water in an urban context leads to (in) equitable gender participation and decision making. Using household surveys (n = 415), key informant interviews (n = 19), focus-group discussions (n = 14), we explore gender dynamics and power relations underpinning participation, decision making processes, and employment and benefit sharing arrangements among Water User Associations (WUAs) in the urban informal settlements of Lilongwe, Malawi. We find that WUAs do not guarantee equitable gender participation. Rather, inequitable participation is simply reified through: (1) gendered representation in WUA structures; (2) socio-cultural practices and women’s self-exclusion; and (3) community micro-politics and power relations. Our findings contradict the notion that community-based governance of water leads to equitable participation and empowerment of women. The policy implications are that without systematic efforts to incorporate women’s needs, interests, and voices, so-called participatory approaches to water governance will only serve to suppress women’s agency and reinforce existing gender-based inequalities. Future work will explore the pathways to women’s leadership in the WUAs and interrogate how women on the board and executive committees navigate their way up the hierarchy, their experiences in a male-dominated water governance scheme and their recommendations for how WUAs can improve women’s participation.

Keywords: feminist political ecology, water users associations, gender, participation, urban water governance, Malawi

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Malawi

Year: 2018

Citation:

Kolmasova, Sarka, and Katerina Krulisova. 2019. "Legitimizing Military Action through “Rape-as-a-Weapon” Discourse in Libya: Critical Feminist Analysis." Politics & Gender 15 (1): 130-50.

Authors: Sarka Kolmasova, Katerina Krulisova

Abstract:

Contemporary discourse on sexual(ized) violence in armed conflicts represents a powerful source for legitimization of highly controversial military interventions. Recent gender-responsive security studies have called for enhanced protection of women and girls from widespread and systematic sexual(ized) violence. Yet military operations reproduce the Western masculine hegemony rather than providing inclusive and apolitical assistance to victims of sexual assault. The article aims to critically assess discourse on sexual violence in a case of military intervention in Libya initiated under the rubric of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). The case study indicates a set of discursive strategies exercised by Western political representatives and nongovernmental organizations and even more expressively by the media to legitimize the military campaign. Typically, sexual(ized) violence is presented as a weapon of war, used by one of the conflicting parties without an adequate response of the state. This is followed by urgent calls for international action, willingly carried out by Western powers. The simplified narrative of civilized protectors versus savage aggressors must be challenged as it exploits the problem of sexual(ized) violence in order to legitimize politically motivated actions.

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Media, Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, NGOs, Sexual Violence, Rape, Weapons /Arms Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa Countries: Libya

Year: 2019

Citation:

Musa, Suad M. E. 2018. Hawks and Doves in Sudan's Armed Conflict: Al-Hakkamat Baggara Women of Darfur. Boydell & Brewer.

Author: Suad M. E. Musa

Keywords: Eastern Africa series, African studies, politics & economics, women's & gender studies

Annotation:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Governance, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Sudan

Year: 2018

Citation:

Mushtaq, Samreen. 2020. "The Myth of Empowerment: Gender, Conflict, and ‘Development’ in Kashmir." In Minorities and Populism - Critical Perspectives from South Asia and Europe, edited by Volker Kaul and Ananya Vajpeyi, 277-86. Cham: Springer, Cham.

Author: Samreen Mushtaq

Abstract:

This paper attempts to look at the discourse of development and empowerment in a conflict zone like Kashmir to explore how such narratives are employed by the state to suppress people’s resistance. Kashmir has been noted as one of the longest running ‘disputes’ between India and Pakistan following the Partition of the subcontinent in 1947—a narrative that ignores the centrality of Kashmir and Kashmiris to the conundrum. This paper brings forth India’s nation-building exercise in Kashmir, often hinged on the discourse of development, to show how gender and conflict intersect with violence being central to state control. It looks into women’s empowerment narrative propagated by the state, presenting itself as a saviour of the otherwise ‘oppressed’ women. In doing so, the paper highlights how such empowerment does not translate into a life of dignity for the women. It brings forth women’s subversion of statist impositions to participate in resistance as they demand their right to a national imaginary of their own.

Keywords: gender, empowerment, violence, Kashmir, India

Topics: Development, Conflict, Gender, Governance, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2020

Citation:

James, Bronwyn. 1999. “At the Margins of Power: Gender and Policy in the Energy Sector.” Agenda 15 (1): 18–47.

Author: Bronwyn James

Annotation:

Summary:
“The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) released its draft White Paper on Energy in June 1998, after a protracted period of negotiation and consultation about the policy content and strategic direction of the energy sector. This paper examines the various steps in the process of formulating the White Paper. It begins by examining the definition of gender issues in the energy sector, focussing on the theoretical assumptions which have been made and which point to some of the conceptual difficulties with integrating gender into energy policy. The role of the Women's Energy Group (WEG) and the DME in asserting and supporting the need for integrating gender into policy will also be examined” (James 1999, 18).

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Infrastructure, Energy

Year: 1999

Citation:

Fraune, Cornelia. 2015. “Gender Matters: Women, Renewable Energy, and Citizen Participation in Germany.” Energy Research & Social Science 7: 55–65.

Author: Cornelia Fraune

Abstract:

This study investigates how the larger social, cultural, and political context fosters and constrains citizens’ agency to take part in citizen participation schemes in renewable electricity production (RES-E). Based on a comprehensive review of research on gender and energy, hypotheses about gender differences in involvement in citizen participation schemes in RES-E are derived. These are tested statistically on the basis of data gathered in the context of a pilot study. The results reveal differences between women and men in the average ownership rate of citizen participation schemes, the average investment sum and decision-making bodies. In contrast, findings on gender differences in the amount of capital assets invested per capita are inconclusive. This study gives an indication that beyond individual preferences and investment attitudes, cultural, social and political factors also influence an individual’s agency to participate in RES-E operated by citizens’ associations.

Keywords: energy transformation, citizen participation schemes, renewable energy, production, gender, social context

Topics: Gender, Governance, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany

Year: 2015

Citation:

Lahey, Kathleen. 2015.  "Women and Taxation – from Taxing for Growth and Tax Competition to Taxing for Sex Equality." First Quarter 10 (1): 8-10.

Author: Kathleen Lahey

Annotation:

Topics: Development, Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, International Organizations

Year: 2015

Citation:

Efthymiou, Stratis Andreas. 2019. Nationalism, Militarism and Masculinity in Post-Conflict Cyprus. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Author: Stratis Andreas Efthymiou

Annotation:

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Nationalism Regions: Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Cyprus

Year: 2019

Citation:

Abimbola, Foluke Oluyemisi. 2019. "Women in Post-Conflict Niger-Delta of Nigeria: Amnesty versus Restorative Justice." Journal of Law and Criminal Justice 7 (1): 23-34.

Author: Foluke Oluyemisi Abimbola

Abstract:

The Niger-Delta of Nigeria is known for violence and conflicts as a result of opposition of militant groups to oil exploration activities concentrated in this area of Nigeria. The militant groups are still agitating for a share of the oil revenue and for the development of their region. Women in the Niger-Delta of Nigeria have experienced different levels of violence and torture during these conflict situations. Some of the crimes perpetrated against women during these conflicts are rape, forced labour, sex slavery, and brutal murder of their family members. In addition, during conflict situations and even thereafter, the women experience a deeper level of poverty as a result of their inability to continue with their economic activities such as farming or fishing due to displacements caused by the conflict as most of the women living in the Niger-Delta rural communities are subsistence farmers. Following years of insurgency by angry militants against the Nigerian government, the amnesty strategy was eventually mapped out by the government of the day in order to give the militant youth economic opportunities to stem the tide of conflicts. However, the vast majority of women and girls who were and are still victims of these conflicts were not included. This paper shall highlight the need for restorative justice especially for women who are victims of the insurgency. Whereas amnesty seeks to give a better future to the militants, the women are unable to recover effectively with little or no means of indemnifying their losses. This paper proposes restitution or compensation for victims while creating constructive roles for victims in the criminal justice process.

Keywords: women, Niger Delta, post-conflict mechanisms, amnesty, restorative justice

Topics: Age, Youth, Agriculture, Displacement & Migration, Economies, Poverty, Conflict, Resource Conflict, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Justice, Torture, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Slavery, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2019