240007 SE Seminar Individuelle Schwerpunktsetzung I (2023W)

The course introduces the topic of gender, intersectionality and peace and conflict studies, their conceptual and historical foundations of the field, international legal instruments, institutions and challenges. The course will offer interdisciplinary perspectives on the subject of gender in peace and conflict times as well as in peacebuilding in post-conflict contexts.
From an intersectional perspective, the seminar offers an analysis of gender-based violence in times of conflict as well as dealing with its consequences and institutional responses (or lack thereof) in post-conflict contexts. To this end, the fundamental concepts of gender, intersectionality and sexualized and gender-based violence in the context of peace and conflict research are presented from a social science perspective. We will discuss how certain forms of gender-based violence are heavily criticized and brought into the public eye, while others remain invisible, naturalized and even legitimized by large parts of the population. Throughout the course, specific case studies will be analyzed to illustrate the range, gap and contradictions between the struggle, achievements and successes of the women's movement with regard to international norms on the one hand, and the challenges for including women in decision-making positions in peacebuilding processes as well as in the effective implementation of reconstruction and institution building. Against this background, a number of questions arise: What role do gender and intersectionality play in the deployment of political violence in armed conflict and authoritarian regimes? How is gender-based violence and its victims represented in the social stereotypes of women and men in armed conflict? What kind of consequences does sexualized and gender-based violence have not only for women, but also for surviving men as well as for minorities of diverse sexual orientations in conflict and post conflict contexts? How can the continuity of gender-based violence in times of war, forced migration and peace be explained? Who are the main actors in dealing with sexualized and gendered violence in times of peacebuilding? What roles and possibilities of participation do women in peacebuilding contexts have? What legal and political advances have there been at the international level to improve the inclusion of women and LGBTI+ in peacebuilding processes? How do transitional justice policies deal with the consequences of sexualized and gender-based violence after dictatorships and armed conflicts? Do transitional justice instruments contain sufficient intersectional perspectives in their search for truth, justice and reparation? What factors contribute to make reparation policies in cases of sexualized and gender violence effective and which ones hinder it?

Goals:
1) To know the main theoretical concepts regarding gender and intersectionality studies in the field of peace and conflict studies
2) To be able to conduct and incorporate a gender and intersectional perspective in the analysis of cases of armed conflicts and peacebuilding processes.
4) To develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. During the course, students will improve their analytical thinking capacity by reading critical bibliography and using the analytical approach in the discussion of concrete case studies.