Peacebuilding

Violence, Toleration, or Inclusion? Exploring Variation in the Experiences of LGBT Combatants in Colombia

Citation:

Thylin, Theresia. 2020. "Violence, Toleration, or Inclusion? Exploring Variation in the Experiences of LGBT Combatants in Colombia." Sexualities 23 (3): 445-64.

Author: Theresia Thylin

Abstract:

While scholars have started to pay increased attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons serving in state security forces, little is known of the experiences of LGBT combatants operating in non-state armed groups in conflict settings. This article explores the experiences of LGBT persons from three different armed groups in Colombia. While LGBT combatants are often in a highly vulnerable position, this article reveals large differences between armed groups, as well as important exceptions within groups that contribute to LGBT combatants’ varied experiences. In conclusion, I argue that understanding these variations in LGBT combatants’ experiences has important policy and programme implications and provides opportunities for more inclusive peacebuilding processes in Colombia and beyond.

Keywords: armed conflict, Colombia, combatants, FARC, LGBT

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Gender, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Peacebuilding, Sexuality Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2020

Hawks and Doves in Sudan's Armed Conflict: Al-Hakkamat Baggara Women of Darfur

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:

Summary:
Al-Hakkamat Baggara women hold an instrumental position in rural Sudan, wielding agency, social and political power. This book uncovers their significant, but widely overlooked, role during the war in Darfur from the 1970s to today's continuing conflict. The author examines the influence they exercised through composing and reciting poems and songs, informal speech and other symbolic acts, and analyses their impact in the social and political domains. Challenging the pervasive portrayal of women as natural peacebuilders and their roles as passive and submissive, the author highlights how Sudan's state government co-opted al-Hakkamat Baggara women to lobby on its behalf, to rally for war and to advocate for peace. Understanding how they can contribute to the resolution and resettlement processes is vital to sustainable reconciliation and post-conflict transformation of the unstable state. (Summary from Boydell & Brewer)
 
Table of Contents:
Preface: Conflict in Darfur and the role of Darfuri Rural Women
 
Ethnicity and Administration in Darfur
 
Conflict in Darfur: Causes and Implications
 
Al-Hakkamat Women
 
Local Inter-Ethnic Conflicts
 
Government and Racial Assimilation of Ethnic Groups
 
Liaising with Government
 
New Duties and Obligations
 
Roles in Peace and Reconciliation
 
Urban Identity and Social Change
 
Conclusion
 
Appendix: Chronology of Darfur 1445-2017
 

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

Year: 2018

The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women: Towards Feminist Framings from the South

Citation:

Samuel, Kumudini, Claire Slatter, and Vagisha Gunasekara, eds. 2019. The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women: Towards Feminist Framings from the South. Zed Books.

Authors: Kumudini Samuel, Claire Slatter, Vagisha Gunasekara

Annotation:

Summary:
The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women shows how political, economic, social and ideological processes intersect to shape conflict related gender-based violence against women. Through feminist interrogations of the politics of economies, struggles for political power and the gender order, this collection reveals how sexual orders and regimes are linked to spaces of production. Crucially it argues that these spaces are themselves firmly anchored in overlapping patriarchies which are sustained and reproduced during and after war through violence that is physical as well as structural.
 
Through an analysis of legal regimes and structures of social arrangements, this book frames militarization as a political economic dynamic, developing a radical critique of liberal peace building and peace making that does not challenge patriarchy, or modes of production and accumulation. 
 
This book brings together the work of a group of feminists from the global South. The authors are diverse in their backgrounds, experience, and academic and disciplinary orientations. They work in different political, economic, social and cultural contexts and some have approached writing about the political economies of violence against women in their own countries as much (or more) from lived experience and experiential insights as from formal or scholarly research, which we consider entirely valid and in keeping with feminist epistemology. (Summary from DAWN)
 
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Framing a South Feminist Analysis of War, Conflict and Violence against Women: The Value of a Political Economy Lens 
Kumudini Samuel and Vagisha Gunasekara
 
The Construction of the ‘Responsible Woman’: Structural Violence in Sri Lanka’s Post-war Development Strategy
Vagisha Gunasekara and Vijay K. Nagaraj
 
Ending Violence against Women in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands Region: The Role of the State, Local Civil Society and Extractive Industries by Elizabeth
 
Box 6.1 Lessons from the Bougainville Experience
Michelle Kopi
 
Rural Women in Colombia: From Victims to Actors
Cecilia López Montaño and MaríA-Claudia Holstine
 
Contesting Territoriality: Patriarchy, Accumulation and Dispossession. “Entrenched Peripherality”: Women, Political Economy and the Myth of Peacebuilding in North East India
Roshmi Goswami
 
Re-Imagining Subversion: Agency and Women’s Peace Activism in Northern Uganda
Yaliwe Clarke and Constance O’Brien
 
The Prism of Marginalisation: Political Economy of Violence against Women in Sudan and South Sudan
Fahima Hashim

 

Topics: Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Political Economies, Peacebuilding, Violence

Year: 2019

The Success of Women's Participation In Resolving Conflicts In Liberia

Citation:

Masitoh, Dewi. 2020. "The Success of Women's Participation In Resolving Conflicts In Liberia." Journal of Governance 5 (1): 71-90.

Author: Dewi Masitoh

Abstract:

The Civil War that occurred in Liberia has been going on for a long time, where there are two rebel groups, they are: Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Both of these rebel groups have caused gender inequality in Liberia continuously, especially women who have been victims of this war. However, with the efforts and participation of women from Liberian society, the war was successfully reconciled without creating violence. This research is aimed at realizing that women are not only victims of gender inequality, but can also be 'agents of change' in creating peace and better change for the future of a country. This research will use qualitative research methods, that emphasize the observation and understanding of a social phenomenon, where data is collected through secondary data and literature review. This research will analyze the case using three concepts: Feminism, Gender Equality, and Peace. The research concluded that there have been several efforts that have been made by women to resolve conflicts in Liberia by creating and building peace sustainably so that peace can be stable for a long time. The efforts that have been made by Liberian women are by creating several organizations and affiliations, they are: Woman in the Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), Mano River Women's Peace Network (MARWOPNET), Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL). This long-term peace can improve gender equality in several sectors of Liberian society, such as the economy and political sectors that are getting better and more effective from year to year.

Keywords: women's participation, conflicts, democracy, Liberia, Movement

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2020

A Feminist Perspective and the Challenge of Post Conflict Development in Africa

Citation:

Omotosho, Mashood, and Mariam Adebola Ogunleye. 2018. "A Feminist Perspective and the Challenge of Post Conflict Development in Africa." International Journal for Empirical Education and Research. doi:10.35935/edr/22.3619.

Author: Mashood Omotosho

Abstract:

In the last two decades, Africa has witnessed series of wars and ethno-religious conflicts with devastating impact on women. Various atrocities against women have been recorded during these conflicts and these developments have created a dangerous dimension against non-combatant women in the continent. In an attempt to resolve the conflict and armed conflict on women in the areas of sexual and gender-based violence, series of peace missions and peace building mechanism were put in place. Despite the various peace negotiations, evidence has shown that women are largely absent from formal peace negotiations and their voices are not heard both at local and continental levels especially within the modern-day challenges and post conflict development. In fact, the transformation agenda of post-conflict peace negotiations routinely failed to consider the gendered causes and consequences of armed conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. It is against this backdrop that this paper attempts to reassess the ambivalent role of women in conflict management in Africa. More importantly, the paper argues that there is need to increase women’s participation in peace talks, planning of demilitarisation, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and determining governance and security structures, especially in conflict prone areas. Ultimately, the paper seeks to also identify challenges hindering the role and the participation of women in post conflict development in Africa.

Keywords: feminist, post conflict, Gender, violence, womanism, conflict escalation

Topics: Armed Conflict, DDR, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Peace Processes, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa

Year: 2018

Role of Women in Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Transformation Africa: A Catholic Church Perspective

Citation:

Ochieng, Merab. 2019. "Role of Women in Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Transformation Africa: A Catholic Church Perspective." International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 1 (2): 1-12

Author: Merab Ochieng

Abstract:

Women, world over play important role in preservation of culture and nurturing of peace. However it has been observed that in times of conflict women are not represented in peace negotiation and in planning and execution of post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This paper examines the place of women in the Catholic Church and the opportunities they have to engage in conflict resolution and peace building in the African context. The paper argues that in many areas of conflict women play a major role in keeping the communities from disintegrating even in the breakdown of the social fabric. It further argues that the Catholic Church as a leading advocate for empowerment of women has a major role to ensure that they are allowed to play a more significant role in conflict resolution and peace building.

Keywords: peace negotiation, conflict resolution, Africa, women, gender issues

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Women, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Religion Regions: Africa

Year: 2019

Liberia’s Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration

Citation:

Vastapuu, Leena. 2018. Liberia's Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration. London: Zed Books.

Author: Leena Vastapuu

Annotation:

Summary:
The Liberian civil wars of the 1990s and 2000s were notorious for their atrocities, and for the widespread use of child soldiers by both sides. Young girls accounted for up to forty percent of these combatants, but their unique perspective and experiences have largely been excluded from accounts of the conflict.
 
In Liberia’s Woman Veterans, Leena Vastapuu uses an innovative “auto-photographic” methodology to tell the story of two of Africa’s most brutal civil wars through the eyes of 133 former female child soldiers. It allows the book to provide a palpable account of these women’s experiences of trauma and stigma. It also illustrates the challenges of reintegration into postwar society, as well as the women’s hopes and aspirations for the future. Vastapuu argues that these women, too often perceived merely as passive victims of the conflict, can in fact play an important role in postwar reconciliation and peace building. In the process, the work overturns gendered perceptions of warfare and militarism, and provides an exceptional take on postconflict societies. (Summary from Zed Books)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Child Soldiers, DDR, Gender, Girls, Health, Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2018

Economically Empowering Women as Sustainable Conflict Resolution: A Case Study on Building Peace in Uganda through Social Enterprise

Citation:

Maracine, Lisa Liberatore. 2019. "Economically Empowering Women as Sustainable Conflict Resolution: A Case Study on Building Peace in Uganda through Social Enterprise." In Peace, Reconciliation and Social Justice Leadership in the 21st Century: Volume 8, edited by H. Eric Schockman, 117-30. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Author: Lisa Liberatore Maracine

Abstract:

This chapter argues for the role of social enterprise in building sustainable peace by giving women agency and power in their communities. It will look at these phenomena through the lens of a non-governmental organization, 31 Bits, that offers a valuable case study in the post-conflict Northern Uganda town of Gulu where they employ 100 plus women in a five-year program that equips them to become fully self-sustainable through the creation of jewelry handmade from recycled paper. Their holistic approach moves beyond the nonprofit model of charity and survival for giving their beneficiaries the chance to thrive. In this way, it is not relief or rescue work but rather informal sustainable peace development. When women are economically empowered, their communities are closer to reaching gender equality and achieving positive peace.

Keywords: gender, development, peacebuilding, sustainability, social enterprise, Uganda

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods, NGOs, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2019

Peace in the Family is the Basis of Peace in the Country: How Women Contribute to Local Peace in Southern Kyrgyzstan

Citation:

Ismailbekova, Aksana, and Nick Megoran. 2020. "Peace in the Family is the Basis of Peace in the Country: How Women Contribute to Local Peace in Southern Kyrgyzstan." Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 14 (4): 483-500.

Authors: Aksana Ismailbekova, Nick Megoran

Abstract:

There has been a significant amount of research on peacebuilding in Central Asia in general and in Kyrgyzstan in particular. This has helped us both understand socio-political processes in the republic itself, and the shortcomings of the liberal peacebuilding framework in general. However, this work has, with rare exceptions, focused largely on male peacebuilding at either the state or international scale. Correcting that trend, this article illuminates the role of women peacebuilders in the post-conflict city of Osh. Based on ethnographic research conducted in 2016, it argues that women have a hitherto overlooked but nonetheless important ‘invisible’ role in peacebuilding.

Keywords: peacebuilding, gender, Kyrgyzstan, family, elders, patriarchy

Topics: Age, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Asia, Central Asia Countries: Kyrgyzstan

Year: 2020

Women’s Agency in Peacebuilding in Polarized Post-Conflict Communities in Plateau State, Nigeria

Citation:

Bulus, Kwopnan Ibrahim, Feyza Bhatti, and Cemaliye Beysoylu. 2020. "Women’s Agency in Peacebuilding in Polarized Post-Conflict Communities in Plateau State, Nigeria." Journal of Politics and Law 13 (2): 189-200.

Authors: Kwopnan Ibrahim Bulus, Feyza Bhatti, Cemaliye Beysoylu

Abstract:

Over the last two decades, while significant consideration is given to women’s participation and representation in formal peacebuilding processes, there is the dearth of research on the grassroots level involvement and contributions of women to peacebuilding processes in post-conflict communities. Utilizing 28 semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions with women in Bukuru and Gyel communities, this article aims at improving the understandings on the agency of women in building and sustaining peace in polarized post-conflict communities in Plateau State, Nigeria. The article argues that in spite of the global marginalisation of women in formal peace processes, women are actively involved in peacebuilding and use various forms of individual and collective agency to restore harmonious relations, build peace and foster social cohesion in polarized post-conflict communities.

Keywords: peacebuilding, women's agency, bottom-up peacebuilding, social cohesion

Topics: Gender, Women, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2020

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