To settle for a gendered peace? Spaces for feminist grassroots mobilization in Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Abstract

This paper offers an examination of citizenship in the context of post-conflict transformation as an important scenario in which to investigate the possibilities for the inclusion of women and women's demands in the transition to peace. Drawing on interview and ethnographic data collected in Northern Ireland and BosniaHerzegovina, the paper highlights a site of tension between the aspirations for transformation and inclusion set out internationally in UNSCR 1325 and the gender underpinnings of consociationalism that shape the broader political, social and cultural context of citizenship in these case studies. It illustrates that women and women's claims are repeatedly side-lined in favour of matters that are deemed of more vital interest in the quest for 'peace', such as relations between ethno-national groups, security concerns and stability of institutions. Despite this damning failure, women and feminist activists continue to mobilise, as individuals and collectively, in order to make demands for social, political and cultural transformation. The paper argues that attending to these dynamics is crucial if we strive to transform the gender regimes underpinning war/peace and acknowledge women as agents in this process.

Women, Peace and Security Agenda

“…As of 2019, peace agreements with gender equality provisions increased from 14 per cent in 1995 to only 22 per cent (source: UN Women). Research also indicates that even when women are included through international efforts or National Actions Plans obstacles remain for their influence in shaping peace agreements (Paffenholz et al,2016.) Furthermore, gendered exclusions, stereotypes and insecurities in post-conflict scenarios have proved to be resilient, as these are reproduced or emerge anew at different stages of a peace process in spite of institutional commitment to implement WPS (Deiana 2015;George and Shepherd 2016).…”

Power-sharing: A gender intervention

“…Bell, 2018; Bell and McNicholl, 2019; Brown and Ní Aoláin, 2015), and grassroots civil society and feminist peace activisms (e.g. Deiana, 2015; Demetriou and Hadjipavlou, 2018; Pierson and Thomson, 2018). There is also a strand of the women and political representation literature that considers the impact of consociation on women’s representation.…”

“…Mackay and Murtagh suggest that ‘in a system predicated on the recognition of communal identities, women form a “non-salient” group and thus find themselves marginalised and their interests subordinated to the ethno-national agenda’ (2019: 5). Ronan Kennedy and his co-authors (2016: 629) suggest that consociation embodies a ‘hegemony of ethnicity’ and Maria Deiana (2015: 109) discusses what she labels consociationalism’s ‘ethno-national straightjacket’. Kristian Brown and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (2015: 128) point to the ‘dark side’ of consociation; they worry that it deepens nationalist identity and intensifies militant expressionism.…”

“…There is a long history of women’s cross-community peace work and other forms of grassroots mobilization, work that consociationalism tends to gloss over (e.g. Byrne, 2014; Deiana, 2015; Pierson and Thomson, 2018). Partly this is because consociation focuses primarily on formal political institutions.…”

“…When they do gain entry into such formal political spaces, they must also confront enduring gender tropes and stereotypes that challenge their legitimacy and efficacy. While women are not without ethnic identities of their own – including those represented in power-sharing – there is concern that power-sharing constrains their ability to mobilize, participate and be represented as women and that their concerns are often unaddressed or deferred as part of the power-sharing agenda (Byrne and McCulloch, 2012; Deiana, 2015; Hayes and McAllister, 2012; Pierson and Thomson, 2018). Women, that is, experience the EAI dilemma at multiple stages of the post-conflict transition: they are often excluded from negotiations that produce power-sharing, they are minimally represented in post-conflict power-sharing institutions, and even if included, their priorities continue to butt up against resilient gender norms and tropes.…”