The Women, Peace, Security Agenda of the United Nations is more than 25 years old. Since 2014, those who would speak about gender in the realm of international relations and foreign policy also speak about Feminist Foreign Policy. The signaling is politically correct, even in the face of backsliding and push-back on gender equality progress. What is the reality on the ground? This panel will showcase research that answers this question–theoretically or empirically; through single or comparative case studies, and quantitatively or qualitatively.
*What is the gendered impact of conflict and insecurity? After several decades of feminist international relations research, there is still much to document, especially relating to violence across the gender and sexuality spectrum.
*The WPS Agenda famously has four pillars–participation, prevention, protection and reconstruction. What do we know about the agency exercised by various gender groups and the barriers in their path?
*Essentialist associations of women with peace have made documentation of women’s peace work unfashionable but in a world where gender equality progress is being pushed back, those histories are a key argument for women’s political participation. Historical and ethnographic studies of women’s peace work are welcome.
*Militarisation and women’s participation in combat roles are central to WPS advocacy but marginal still in research. What have we learnt, about people’s experiences and about the implementation of UN-driven best practices on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration?
*What is the relationship between gender, conflict, insecurity and democracy, especially in a world where governments are ever-more prone to regulation and surveillance practices?