Doctoral Dissertation Research: Security and Rights through the Advocacy of Women's Organizations

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary Many women in post-conflict areas play a transformative role in formal and informal security, but they also must navigate the politics of UN Security Council resolutions regarding women's participation in post-conflict peacebuilding, national policies addressing women's security, and the politics and financial pressures of transnational NGOs. While there has been much interest in women's victimization and peacebuilding efforts, little attention has been directed to understanding how women holistically manage and advocate for their security in their communities. This project explores how individual and organizational narratives form a part of or potentially subvert dominant international discourses on women's roles and experiences in conflict as well as the relationship between women and peace. By prioritizing women's knowledge of their own security needs, this study contributes to efforts to improve U.S. foreign policy goals of women "as equal partners in preventing conflict and building peace." Ultimately, this study advances an understanding of how and to what extent international gender norms affect national policies and local implementation strategies, as well as how international policy-making in gender mainstreaming is fundamentally different from other types of security policy efforts. Technical Summary Specifically, this project addresses how local and national women's organizations in post-conflict areas of West Africa work to advocate for women's security. To do so, this study uses participant observation and interviews in Guinea and Mali (building on prior research in Cote d'Ivoire) to reveal how international resolutions impact local actions and also whether and how local women's priorities can shape international policies. Analyzing policies on women's security and the discourses that sustain them through macro-, meso-, and micro-level lenses will reveal how local and regional women's community organizations define their security goals and priorities, translate and localize the international agendas of the UN Security Council and transnational NGOs as well as the national agendas of governments, and work with local women to achieve peace and security. By examining the conflicts in Guinea and Mali, this project will develop a framework of how to understand women's needs in their communities and in national peacebuilding and reconstruction projects, underscoring that historical, political, and cultural contexts are important in developing successful, appropriate security policies.