Gender, Governance, And International Security

This edited volume provides a critical evaluation of the international agenda to mainstream gender in matters of conflict and peacebuilding (resulting from the passage of UNSCR 1325). It considers the consequences for women in conflict zones and for the governance of peace and security. This book was based on a special issue of the International Feminist Journal of Politics. The United Nations Security Council, in 2000, unanimously passed a resolution calling for women’s increased participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, as well as their protection during conflict. This marked the first time that the UN Security Council explicitly addressed gender issues in ‘conflict’ and ‘post-conflict’ situations. But what difference has this international agenda on ‘Women, Peace and Security’ made to women’s lives on the ground and to the governance of international peace and security? This volume provides a critical evaluation of the mainstreaming of gender issues in matters of international peace and security resulting from the passage of Resolution 1325 in 2000. It considers how this agenda actually plays out in different contexts, and with what implications for women’s activism and for peace and security. The picture that emerges is not uniform, obliging us to reconsider the links between gender, conflict, different visions of peace and, consequently, different projects of peacebuilding. Consequently, the book poses new questions for transnational feminist scholars and activists. This book was based on a special issue of the International Feminist Journal of Politics.