Oxford University Press Windows of Opportunity: How Women Seize Peace Negotiations for Political Change (Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations)

In 1915, women from over thirty countries met in The Hague to express opposition to World War I and propose ways to end it. The delegates made three demands: for women to be present at all international peace conferences, a women's-only peace conference to be convened alongside any official negotiations, and the establishment of universal suffrage. While these demands went unmet at the time, contemporary women's groups continue to seek participation in peace negotiations and to have language promoting gender equality inserted into all peace agreements. Between 1975 and 2011 about 40% of all conflicts that produced peace agreements resulted in at least one with references to women. Many of these clauses addressed compensation for wartime gender-based violence and guarantees for women's participation in the post-conflict transitional period. Others included electoral quotas and changes to inheritance legislation. Curiously, the language used to address women is near consistent across these agreements, and that is because it reflects international women's rights norms rather than more local norms. Why is it that though a peace agreement's primary objective is to end conflict, some include potentially controversial provisions about gender that might delay or complicate reaching an agreement? Why do these provisions echo international norms rather than local, cultural ones? And which factors make it more likely that women's rights will appear in peace agreements? Windows of Opportunity answers these questions by examining peace negotiations in Burundi, Macedonia, and Northern Ireland along with 195 peace agreements signed between 1975 and 2011. It looks at the key actors involved in lobbying for women's participation, along with their motivations, objectives, and strategies. It also explores the reasons for similarities among the gender provisions. Review History is made by choices. Participation of women in the peace process was not part of our shared understanding of history; now through this very compelling work of Miriam J. Anderson it is. Women are not only participating in processes: they are contributing significantly and these contributions are measured. New tools allow us to understand these trends precisely. Anderson contributes greatly to scholarship and methodology. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in both gender and peace. ― Andrea Bartoli, Dean, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University Windows of Opportunity is a systematic and scholarly analysis of womens experiences in seeking to access the negotiating table, and to get their rights on the agenda, at the point of peace agreements. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, it reviews 195 peace agreements signed between 1975 and 2011, as well as in-depth analyses of relative success in Burundi and Northern Ireland, and relative failure in Macedonia. It brings into sharp focus the importance of womens local activism working in alliance with international networks and as such offers practical lessons for policy-makers in the future. ― Donna Pankhurst, Professor of Peacebuilding, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford Windows of Opportunity is an excellent and welcome contribution to the study of women, war and peace. Through an examination of three case studies and quantitative analysis of 195 peace agreements, Anderson convincingly demonstrates what factors mattered (and in what ways) for the inclusion of womens rights and references to women in contemporary peace agreements, namely key actors (local, regional and international feminist advocacy groups), strategies, and international norm diffusion. In light of the international communitys commitment to the women, peace and security agenda, this book provides a timely blueprint for promoting womens rights and gender equality in peace negotiations and the agreements that are concluded. ― Kristen P. Williams, Prof