Title: Intergenerational gaps in women’s grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana: a critique of “inclusive peacebuilding”
Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research
ISSN: 1759-6599
Article publication date: 21 February 2022
Issue publication date: 12 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of inclusion in women’s bottom-up peacebuilding in Ghana. Inspired by the growing importance of “inclusion” and “local empowerment” in the discourse and practice of local ownership in peacebuilding, this paper seeks to investigate the scope and degree of inclusion of key actors such as women and youth, and how that affects peacebuilding and sustainable peace in some conflict-affected zones.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a cross-sectional case study design and qualitative strategy. It is based on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions conducted with actors who have been engaged in grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana and West Africa. The analysis was largely inductive, identifying emerging themes and patterns in the research data.
Findings
The findings indicate that young women are usually absent or not engaged meaningfully in the mobilization of women and youth in the “inclusive” grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana. This is due to the prevalence of deep-seated cultural and political prejudices or stereotypes about women in the areas studied. As these local constructs and thus practices are difficult to change or challenge, peacebuilding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) usually deploy innovative ways by mobilizing socially constructed women’s positionalities – as “whistleblowers,” “cross-ethnic/cross-cultural actors” and “socially networked actors” – in ways that promote women in contemporary peacebuilding discourses and practices. Through mobilizing these stereotypes (to forestall possible provocation, especially from dominant actors or gatekeepers), peacebuilding NGOs have subtly positioned women centrally within a vibrant peace infrastructure in Ghana. Yet, due to the dominance of some patriarchal sociopolitical structures, only older women and young men occupy the spaces for women and youth’s peacebuilding.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first research papers to question not only the scope but also the degree of inclusion and participation of women in peacebuilding in sub-Sahara Africa. This has nuanced scholarly debates on the subject and encouraged the development of innovative programmes targeted at a more comprehensive gendered and youth-ed inclusion to address the inequality gap in peacebuilding discourses and practices.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to first express his profound gratitude to Morgan Brigg, his PhD thesis supervisor, who has contributed tremendously to shaping the theoretical background of this article. Great appreciation also goes to the School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland (Australia), and the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Foundation for providing generous funding for field data collection, from which this article emerged. For the many supportive research participants, research assistants and community contacts in Ghana, He is humbled by your selfless contribution to this research. Finally, he his very thankful to Dr Linda M. Johnston, President of IPRA Foundation for showing consistent support at all stages of my research, especially facilitating the processes in getting this article published in a reputable and very appropriate journal.
Funding: This paper emerged from the author’s PhD field research which was generously sponsored by the University of Queensland Research Training Scholarship (Australia) and the International Peace Research Association Foundation Research Grant 2020.
Citation
Paalo, S.A. (2022), "Title: Intergenerational gaps in women’s grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana: a critique of “inclusive peacebuilding”", Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 287-303. https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-01-2022-0663
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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