Feminist movements, gender perspective, peace-building, conflict resolution, continuum of violence, peace education, human rights, education programs
There are 2 cases and concepts discussed in this document :
a. Define and discuss the concept of the continuum of violence and illustrate how it is relevant in understanding violence from a gender perspective. Use an example of your choice.
b. Present and discuss at least three major contemporary feminist perspectives on gender in peace-building and conflict resolution.
Then, it is discussed the major challenges peace education that is facing regions of intractable conflict, illustrated with examples.
[...] The pursuit of a feminist approach would seem in this case to be adequate in order to best answer such case scenarios. As a matter of facts, they are known for their advocacy of equality between women and men. In this case, they claim that there is indeed to be found the figure of an oppressor (the man) and the oppressed (the woman). However, this point remains to be nuanced insofar as man also becomes a victim of his own oppression. [...]
[...] This quote argues that we should deconstruct our perception on gender and that an individual's life path is not determined at birth as biological determinists would say. In the same way, we should deconstruct our ideas that men are associated with war, and women with peace. On the contrary, the diversity of people in times of war could help to resolve the conflict. In conclusion, we could say that violence is therefore an experience that all women suffer throughout the world. In this sense, we speak of "continuum violence", because the latter is continuous. [...]
[...] Moreover, it might be even harder to ensure peace education when it is applied in the regions of intractable conflict. On the one hand, it might seem paradoxical to discuss peace in a region which is forced to face conflicts every single day. On the other hand, peace itself might not be exactly what given individuals are longing to. For the statement of the four challenges faced by peace education in regions of intractable conflict, I will incidentally rely on the second chapter of the book Peace and Conflict Studies: a reader, which is written by Salomon Gavriel. [...]
[...] Adopting a gender perspective is necessary and insightful as the three types of violence come together. Violence is therefore experienced by all women, but in different forms. The consequence of women's experience of different forms of violence brought out different forms of feminist movements. To the same extent that women experience violence in a different way, they seek to fight this violence in a different way (in particular through the three contemporary feminist movements that we have analyzed). Why is peace education elusive in nature? [...]
[...] Then, marginalized people are more capable and "legitimate" to talk and ask questions than the non-marginalized people. Lastly, research should begin with the lives of the marginalized. Sandra G. Harding, contemporary American philosopher and feminist, completes this definition by saying the following argument: "Starting off research from women's lives will generate less partial and distorted accounts not only of women's lives but also of men's lives and of the whole social order." In other words, certain socio-political positions occupied by women (and also people without social and economic privilege) can question about not only those who are socially and politically marginalized, but also those who, through privileges, occupy the positions of oppressors. [...]
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