Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda

dc.contributor.advisorO'brien, Constance
dc.contributor.authorClarke, Yaliwe
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-15T09:18:05Z
dc.date.available2022-08-15T09:18:05Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.date.updated2022-08-15T09:16:27Z
dc.description.abstractThis qualitative study was undertaken in Northern Uganda, specifically in the districts of Gulu, Lira, and Kitgum. The researcher spent a total of six months collecting field data (over a period of 2 years) from key members of community-based peacebuilding groups as well as from the groups' beneficiaries. This study conceptualised gender from a decolonial, intersectional framing of femininities which considered lineage, age, class, and geographic location of women who founded peace groups during and just after some of the most volatile periods of the war in Northern Uganda. The researcher theorised how women's small- scale community interventions manifested as part of broader peacebuilding efforts undertaken by larger institutions such as government and international development organisations that were present in Northern Uganda at the time of the study. Based on in-depth interviews with seventeen founders and staff of six community-based peace groups as well as seven focus group discussions with 76 beneficiaries, the study explored shifting gendered subjectivities performed across multiple roles and identities. The data collected was further enhanced by follow-on interviews with seven people who worked with larger aid organisations that interacted with the six community-based peace groups. The researcher reviewed organisational documents such as project reports and minutes of staff meetings to corroborate research participants' narration of their community work. Using thematic analysis, the study deconstructs participants' ‘gendered' meanings of peacebuilding. The findings from this study suggest that an African feminist perspective to peacebuilding requires the following: a nuanced intersectional analysis of women's socio-economic and political power within militarised contexts; foregrounding local efforts to build peace by focusing on gendered experiences of survival; a recognition of militarism as a social and economic system that is often intertwined with colonial histories of violence as well as patriarchal values and customs that present masculine power as normative; and finally, unpacking shifts in gendered power, especially with regard to markers of socio-economic and political power.
dc.identifier.apacitationClarke, Y. (2022). <i>Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Social Development. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationClarke, Yaliwe. <i>"Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Social Development, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationClarke, Y. 2022. Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Social Development. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Doctoral Thesis AU - Clarke, Yaliwe AB - This qualitative study was undertaken in Northern Uganda, specifically in the districts of Gulu, Lira, and Kitgum. The researcher spent a total of six months collecting field data (over a period of 2 years) from key members of community-based peacebuilding groups as well as from the groups' beneficiaries. This study conceptualised gender from a decolonial, intersectional framing of femininities which considered lineage, age, class, and geographic location of women who founded peace groups during and just after some of the most volatile periods of the war in Northern Uganda. The researcher theorised how women's small- scale community interventions manifested as part of broader peacebuilding efforts undertaken by larger institutions such as government and international development organisations that were present in Northern Uganda at the time of the study. Based on in-depth interviews with seventeen founders and staff of six community-based peace groups as well as seven focus group discussions with 76 beneficiaries, the study explored shifting gendered subjectivities performed across multiple roles and identities. The data collected was further enhanced by follow-on interviews with seven people who worked with larger aid organisations that interacted with the six community-based peace groups. The researcher reviewed organisational documents such as project reports and minutes of staff meetings to corroborate research participants' narration of their community work. Using thematic analysis, the study deconstructs participants' ‘gendered' meanings of peacebuilding. The findings from this study suggest that an African feminist perspective to peacebuilding requires the following: a nuanced intersectional analysis of women's socio-economic and political power within militarised contexts; foregrounding local efforts to build peace by focusing on gendered experiences of survival; a recognition of militarism as a social and economic system that is often intertwined with colonial histories of violence as well as patriarchal values and customs that present masculine power as normative; and finally, unpacking shifts in gendered power, especially with regard to markers of socio-economic and political power. DA - 2022 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - social development LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2022 T1 - Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda TI - Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationClarke Y. Exploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Social Development, 2022 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36673en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Social Development
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.subjectsocial development
dc.titleExploring feminist notions of peacebuilding: experiences of women activists in Northern Uganda
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationlevelPhD
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