One of the more exciting parts of interpretivist research is how deeply focused one can get into the ins and outs of a specific discourse. I would like to look at the way UN Security Council Resolutions on women, peace and security discuss women and how peace processes should deal with women and women’s issues. In particular, I the discourses I would like to focus on cover whether or not the resolutions are characterizing women as victims only or agents of peacemaking, how the role of sexual assault in conflict should be handled in peace agreements, and the types of ways that women can be included in processes. The resolutions I would like to begin with are 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), and 2242 (2015).1
The representations of women in the resolutions are particularly important, because they have the potential to affect very deeply global norms about the participation and inclusion of women both in peace processes, and in post-conflict societies. Furthermore, how violence against women, particularly sexual violence, is dealt with by the resolutions has influence over how it is dealt with in peace agreements. The resolutions assist in the construction of international norms about women, and help construct the identities and roles of women in post-conflict societies.
The UN Security Council Resolutions are just a start, because the research question I’m edging towards for this sketch deals with the relationship between the work of the Security Council and the dialogue about women in peace agreements, possibly how do the UNSC Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security influence peace agreements? I would likely pick a specific agreement to analyze for this question, most likely one that has several of these discourses prominently featured.
1. UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1325/2000, 31 October 2000.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1820/2008, 19 June 2008.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1888/2009, 30 September 2009.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1889/2009, 5 October 2009.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1960/2010, 16 December 2010.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/2106/2013, 24 June 2013.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/2122/2013, 18 October 2013.
UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/2242/2015, 13 October 2015.
This is a very good start in terms of finding initial primary source texts for your proposed research, Julia. In your initial reading, what representations are found in these texts? How are women constructed or represented? Are there other identities also constructed or represented in these texts? Beyond the UNSC Resolutions and/or Peace Agreements themselves, what additional texts would you need to read in order to fully understand the meanings and identities in those resolutions and agreements?