Local Wartime Politics and Gendered Perspectives on Reconciliation

• In Event: Enduring Effects of Rebel Governance

Abstract

A growing literature in the social sciences encourages that scholars examine the active
role of gendered social relations in direct experiences of organized violence. So too it is
important to understand how gendered social relations also mediate processes of war not directly
related to violence alone, such as localized armed group governance, as well as gendered
perceptions of these events. How do familial and community roles occupied by women influence how they
experience armed group governance? Do these varied perceptions and experiences have
meaningful implications on transitions to peacetime? Using original survey data collected among
X individuals throughout Colombian municipalities where armed groups established
sustained presence and local level data on rebel and paramilitary
social control, I analyze the relationship
between women’s identity, local armed group social order, and outlooks on peace and
reconciliation. I argue that considering gender as uni-dimensional in the study of political
violence is not enough. Acknowledging multi-dimensional identities of women, both those independent of wartime and those molded by wartime experiences themselves, is important in
developing a nuanced understanding of gendered politics of violence, and particularly the
gendered politics of rebel and armed group governance. Furthermore, this study argues that
considering gender and other identities as multi-dimensional identities and wartime social order is important to understanding additional obstacles to peace at the local level.

Author

• Sarah Moore, Northwestern University