SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This proposed edited volume represents a critical examination of the interrelationships between gender and transnationalism in the context of war, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction with respect to the Middle East. The importance of mainstreaming gender in post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building has been highlighted by various multilateral forums, international NGOs and transnational women’s movements, in recognition of the differential impact of war on women’s lives. Simultaneously, studies of conflict and post-conflict contexts emphasise the role of transnational actors, including diasporic and migrant communities, in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. This volume critically examines the ways in which transnational actors, including women’s movements, national governments, non-governmental actors and multilateral bodies, as well as processes involving the transborder movements of capital and people, shape the experiences of women in conflict situations, the possibilities for women’s participation in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction, as well as long-term prospects for peace and security. In particular, the volume pays attention to the ways in which gender roles, relations and identities are negotiated, conceptualised and employed within transnational social fields in the context of post/conflict—with particular effects for women. All contributions focus on the Middle East as a region experiencing apparently intractable conflicts, including the Arab–Israeli conflict and the post-2003 situation in Iraq.