Post-Conflict

Citation:

Mama, Amina and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 2012. "Militarism, conflict and women's activism in the global era: challenges and prospects for women in three West African contexts." Feminist Review 101 (1): 97-123.

Authors: Amina Mama, Margo Okazawa-Rey

Abstract:

This article develops a feminist perspective on militarism in Africa, drawing examples from the Nigerian, Sierra Leonean and Liberian civil wars spanning several decades to examine women’s participation in the conflict, their survival and livelihood strategies, and their activism. We argue that postcolonial conflicts epitomise some of the worst excesses of militarism in the era of neoliberal globalisation, and that the economic, organisational and ideological features of militarism undermine the prospects for democratisation, social justice and genuine security, especially for women, in post-war societies. Theorisations of ‘new wars’ and the war economy are taken as entry points to a discussion of the conceptual and policy challenges posed by the enduring and systemic cultural and material aspects of militarism. These include the contradictory ways in which women are affected by the complex relationship between gendered capitalist processes and militarism, and the manner in which women negotiate their lives through both. Finally, we highlight the potential of transnational feminist theorising and activism for strengthening intellectual and political solidarities and argue that the globalised military security system can be our ‘common context for struggle’1 as contemporary feminist activist scholars.

Keywords: militarism, Gender, armed conflict, West Africa, feminism, security

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Democracy / Democratization, Economies, Gender, Femininity/ies, Globalization, Justice, Livelihoods, Militarized Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

Year: 2012

Citation:

Haynes, Diana F. 2010. “Lessons from Bosnia’s Arizona Market: Harm to Women in a Neoliberalized Postconflict Reconstruction Process.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 158(6): 1779-1829.

Author: Dina Francesca Haynes

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Economies, Gender, Women, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Trafficking, Human Trafficking Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2010

Citation:

Korac, Maja. 2006. “Gender, conflict and peace-building: Lessons from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.” Women's Studies International Forum 29: 510-20.

Author: Maja Korac

Abstract:

This article explores the importance of gender sensitive analysis of conflict constructed as ethnic strife for conceptualising and developing new and more effective ways of intervening in this type of war. It points out that because most of the physical violence and suffering in these conflicts occur at the community level, they generate massive refugee movements, causing not only physical and material devastation, but also the destruction of social networks and local communities. This critically affects the prospects for refugee return, which is central to any sustainable peace agreement and post-conflict democratic development. In searching for an answer to the question of how to address effectively the issue of reconciliation in such a context, the discussion highlights the centrality of acknowledging gender dimensions and dynamics of this type of war, as a way of uncovering and recognising a reconciliatory potential of women as women organising and activism that often occurs in these conflicts. By focusing specifically on the initiatives of some women's groups during the war in the former Yugoslavia, which aimed at rebuilding trust and broken social networks at a communal level, the article examines the reasons why women as women often opt for alternative forms of political mobilisation. It argues that this type of activism has an important potential for conflict resolution and should be recognised in a fundamental way in any attempt to build peace in conflict zones.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Democracy / Democratization, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Europe, Balkans Countries: Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2006

Citation:

Cockburn, Cynthia. 2013. “What Became of 'Frontline Feminism'? A Retro-Perspective on Post-Conflict Belfast.” Feminist Review 105 (1): 103-21.

Author: Cynthia Cockburn

Abstract:

A feminist stock-taking on ‘post-conflict’, this paper revisits a study made by the author in 1996–1997, when the women’s community sector was a lively actor in the processes leading to the Good Friday Peace Agreement of 1998. Refusing to observe sectarian conflict lines, women’s centres were re-writing official ‘community development’ policy as community empowerment and political challenge. The author draws on new interviews conducted in 2012 with feminist community activists of that earlier period of ‘frontline feminism’, associated with the Belfast Women’s Support Network. The women reveal how continuing poverty, discrimination, violence and unhealed trauma still characterise working-class life in the post-conflict period, and impede the integration of Protestant and Catholic communities. Official provisions for gender equality have been interpreted in gender-neutral ways, and in some cases turned against women. The demilitarisation of masculinity has been painfully slow. The women’s community sector has experienced a loss of political drive as women’s centres have become service providers, dependent on state funding. Feminism is renewing itself, but in fresh forms with different priorities. Will it recover a voice that ‘speaks truth to power’?

Keywords: women, post-conflict, feminism, Northern Ireland, community

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Health, Trauma, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2013

Citation:

Medvedev, Katalin, and Britanny Reef. 2012. “Picking up the Threads: Model Approach Helps Cambodia Design a New Fashion Image.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 41 (1/2): 131–49.

Authors: Katalin Medvedev, Britanny Reef

Annotation:

Last paragraph of Introduction: Most of the country's intelligentsia and skilled labor force perished. Because Cambodia's entire population was uprooted and displaced around the country, the national agriculture, industry, and service sectors, including textiles and fashion production, were either destroyed or abandoned. Vietnamese troops put an end to the destruction by ousting Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in 1979. In 1991 the Paris Peace Agreement finally brought a cease-fire in the continuing civil war. The agreement and the subsequent establishment of the United Nations Transitional Authority in 1992, followed by national elections in 1993, opened Cambodia to international investment and aid, which claimed to rebuild the nation and spur economic growth. As part of this, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) like Blue Mekong, which operates within the Stung Treng Women's Development Center have become important catalysts in creating socially and economically sustainable employment opportunities for Cambodian women in fashion production.

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, NGOs, Post-Conflict Regions: Americas, North America, Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Cambodia, United States of America, Vietnam

Year: 2012

Citation:

Enie, Rosemary Olive Mbone. 2009. “Through the Debris and Dryness in Liberia.” Women in Action (2): 16-20. 

Author: Rosemary Olive Mbone Enie

Abstract:

The article discusses the difficulties faced by women in Liberia brought about by climate change while still recovering from the civil wars. In Liberia, women are responsible for food production, water collection for drinking, sanitation and other household chores. Schools and water services were also affected by the civil wars, making it hard for children and women to resettle. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation helps Liberian communities to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. (Abstract from EBSCOhost).This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects. 

Annotation:

This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, NGOs, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2009

Citation:

Perks, Rachel. 2011. “Towards a Post-Conflict Transition: Women and Artisanal Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” In Gendering the Field: Towards Sustainable Livelihoods for Mining Communities, edited by Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, 177-95. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University E Press.

Author: Rachel Perks

Annotation:

This chapter represents a range of experiences by development actors, foreign donors, government and mining companies in response to the challenge of women’s issues in the artisanal mining sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Although some statistics and trends are common across the country, this chapter speaks more specifically to the contexts of Katanga Province and Ituri District of Orientale Province. It does not in any way attempt to generalise what is a very diverse economic and social environment. It draws from Pact’s work within a public-private partnership aimed at improving governance and livelihoods in the DRC mining sector. (Perks, 2011, p. 177).

Topics: Development, Economies, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2011

Citation:

Norville, Valerie. 2011. The Role of Women in Global Security. 246. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace.

Author: Valerie Norville

Abstract:

This report examines women’s roles in peacebuilding, postconflict reconstruction, and economic development. It draws on discussions at the conference on The Role of Women in Global Security, held in Copenhagen on October 29–30, 2010, and co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Denmark and the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Ambassador Laurie S. Fulton, U.S. ambassador to Denmark and former member of USIP’s board, brought together participants from the United States, Nordic-Baltic countries, Afghanistan, Liberia, and Uganda to focus on the roles that women can play as leaders in areas of active conflict and postconflict. Participants from the public and private sector, including the military, civilian, NGO, academic, and corporate worlds, joined to share experiences and best-practice recommendations on how to increase women’s participation in their communities to effect positive change: resolving active conflicts, assisting in postconflict reintegration, and furthering economic development. Ambassador Fulton noted that men and women with first-person practical experience were able to share their recommendations with those “who represent political leadership from host countries and international organizations who can encourage implementation of those recommendations.”

Annotation:

• Building lasting peace and security requires women’s participation. Half of the world’s population cannot make a whole peace.

• Ten years after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325 on increasing women’s participation in matters of global security, the numbers of women participating in peace settlements remain marginal.

• While improvements have been made, women remain underrepresented in public office, at the negotiating table, and in peacekeeping missions.

• The needs and perspectives of women are often overlooked in postconflict disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), as well as in security sector reform, rehabilitation of justice, and the rule of law.

• Many conflicts have been marked by widespread sexual and gender-based violence, which often continues in the aftermath of war and is typically accompanied by impunity for the perpetrators.

• A continuing lack of physical security and the existence of significant legal constraints in postconflict societies hamper women’s integration into economic life and leadership.

• Best practices for increasing women’s participation include deployment of gender-balanced peacekeeping units, a whole-of-government approach to security sector and judicial reform, and more intentional solicitation of the input of women at the community level on priorities for national budgets and international programs. 

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, UNSCR 1820, UNSCR 1888, UNSCR 1889

Year: 2011

Citation:

Barnes, Karen. 2006. “Reform or More of the Same? Gender Mainstreaming and the Changing Nature of UN Peace Operations”. YCISS Working Paper 41, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics, London.

Author: Karen Barnes

Topics: Conflict Prevention, Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Violence

Year: 2006

Citation:

Baines, Erin K. 2001. “You Cannot Dance If You Cannot Stand:  A Review of the Rwandan Women’s Initiative and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Commitment to Gender Equality in Post-conflict Societies." New York: Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

Author: Erin K. Baines

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Male Combatants, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Ethnicity, Gender, Genocide, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, International Organizations, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Sexual Violence, Female Perpetrators, Male Perpetrators, Rape, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2001