Seen but Not Heard: Networks of Women's Organizations in Civil War

• In Event: Research Frontiers on Gender Equality in Contentious Politics

Abstract

The study of the inclusion of women’s rights in post-conflict settlements has enjoyed an explosion of interest in the past decade. Scholars have shown that formal inclusion of women in the peace negotiation process improves the likelihood that women’s rights are included in the final peace agreement. However, little attention has been paid to the ways that women’s informal activities outside of the peace negotiations, such as those performed by women’s movements, contribute to inclusion of provisions when women are not well represented at negotiations. Further, the interdependencies of organizations within these movements have yet to be explored. I ask ‘what characteristics of women’s organizations are necessary or sufficient to influence the outcomes of peace agreements?’ I utilize the theoretical principals of network analysis and argue that there are three characteristics that are necessary for women’s demands inclusion in peace agreements: size, strength, and connections to sympathetic negotiation participants (e.g. mediators or combatants). Greater size and strength demonstrate unity among women’s organizations and support among a wide segment of the population for the inclusion of their demands. Connection to sympathetic participants facilitates the communication of women’s demands to negotiating parties. I use original data and Qualitative Comparative Analysis to test my argument. I further use evidence from Nepal and Guatemala to illustrate how these network characteristics facilitate the inclusion of women’s demands in peace agreements.

Author

• Carly Millerd, University of Iowa