The Gender Politics of Demilitarisation: Examining DDR from the Perspective of Female (Ex)-Combatants

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What is the relationship between gender, agency and international security? Do contemporary security practices provide 'gender security' in (post)conflict settings? How and why do the gendered subjects of (in)security demonstrate agency and resistance in response to peace and security interventions? UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) stresses the importance of integrating women and gender issues into matters of international peace and security. Yet many argue that international security interventions still fail to address the gender-specific concerns of women in conflict settings, and overlook the agency of women in war and peace. Disarmament, Demobilisation & Reintegration (DDR) programmes exemplify these issues. By eradicating weapons, disbanding armed groups and reintegrating ex-combatants, DDR seeks to secure durable peace. Mainstreaming gender concerns into DDR has potential to achieve positive change. Recognising women as agents not victims of war can help build a gender-just peace. Yet women are often excluded from or marginalised by DDR programs that neglect their interests, rights and needs.To confront these challenges, the proposed project will develop an innovative approach to gender and security. The aims of this approach are to:1. Develop a novel theoretical framework for understanding how gendered agency emerges and is deployed in relation to international security interventions;2. Examine how women situated in (post)conflict settings demonstrate agency and resistance in response to security interventions;3. Identify how 'gender' shapes international security discourses and practices;4. Assess the extent to which 'gender security' is achieved in key sites of international intervention; and5. Build a robust methodology and methods for mapping and analysing 'gender security' in (post)conflict environments.To achieve these aims, the project will undertake a qualitative study of DDR policies and programmes in post-conflict BiH. The study will focus in particular on 'gender security' policies and practices relating to DDR via qualitative analysis of policy documents and interviews with implementers and beneficiaries. In particular, it will explore: the wartime roles of female (ex)combatants/women associated with fighting forces (WAFFs); their motivations for participating in the war effort; their positive and negative experiences of mobilisation; and long-term impact of participation in armed forces. The project will also analyse the gendered nature and impact of DDR policies and practices via an exploration of: women's participation and representation in the planning and design of DDR programmes; whether and how a gender perspective was incorporated into the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of DDR programming.Overall, the study would make a major contribution to: current and future security policymaking and practice; understandings of the role of women as potential/actual agents of security; literatures on security studies, peace and conflict studies, and political sociology; methodologies within the disciplines of international relations and sociology that integrate feminist theory and empirical research and overcome divisions between scholars and practitioners; and finally, emerging debates in policymaking and academic circles regarding the importance of 'gender security'.The project involves diverse forms of knowledge exchange with potential beneficiaries and users. Policymakers and practitioners from international organisations, security institutions and civil society will be engaged throughout the project via targeted briefings and consultation meetings, and policy report. The wider public will be engaged via a workshop and book launch in central London.Ultimately, the study aims to transform understandings of 'gender security' by placing the concept of 'gendered agency' at the centre rather than margins of security discourse/practice.