GENDER ANALYSIS OF CONFLICTS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION (In Eng.)

Abstract

This article explores a not well-known dimension of conflict study and reconciliation, with an emphasis on critical revision. We examine the complex realm of women as victims, combatants and peace-makers; focusing on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) On Women, Peace and Security. We tend to view women as subjects rather than or objects and observe some informal practices of mediation, advocacy, conflict management and reconciliation. In conclusion we draw attention to the positive benefits of an inclusionary politics which incorporates principled justice and practices of care. The study of women involvement and gender and the study of armed conflict (and the resolution thereof) intersect on a number of dimensions. Gender perspectives have been used to advance our understanding of the occurrence of war, patterns of violence, the efficacy of peace processes, and the legacies of violence in post-conflict periods. We not only cover works directly related to women and peacemaking and peacekeeping but we also contextualize this literature within the broader literature on gender and war, sexual violence in conflict, women and peacemaking, women and peace building, masculinities in peacekeeping operations, gender representation in national-security sectors, sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping operations, and gender mainstreaming. In doing so, we provide a more thorough understanding of the role women play in post-conflict settings. Moreover, by considering the role gender plays in peacemaking and peacebuilding, the literature is better able to speak beyond a negative definition of peace and to incorporate more-positive conceptions of peace that prioritize gender equality, consideration of the victims of violence, social justice, and other issues fundamental to a high quality of peace.