Women's meanings of peacebuilding in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Although women’s instrumentality in peacebuilding is internationally recognized, gendered meanings of peacebuilding are poorly understood. Our study was conducted to learn from a diverse group of South African women what peacebuilding means to them. Sixteen women gathered in Cape Town for a 2-day workshop that used feminist participatory methods to gather data about women’s meanings of peacebuilding. All talk was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed for content pertaining to research questions and to identify thematic strands. For these workshop participants, peacebuilding is a process, relationship building is crucial to its effectiveness, and meeting basic human needs underlies its success. Women recognized their active involvement in peacemaking and peacebuilding and, occasionally, in peacekeeping and peace enforcing activities. They viewed their approaches often to be distinct from men’s and believed the significance of their peacebuilding work is not adequately recognized within South African patriarchal society.