My primary research focus is the role of women and gender in peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction. I am particularly interested in the long-term consequences of women's participation in peace processes on security outcomes in post-conflict states.
My dissertation examines the effects of different forms of women's participation in peace processes on women's political empowerment in post-conflict states. Several recent studies (e.g. Tripp 2015; Hughes 2009; Hughes and Tripp 2015; Berry 2018) have identified the post-conflict period as a powerful opportunity to expand women's political empowerment. However, there is still significant variation in levels of women’s political empowerment even between states that emerged from conflict with a peace agreement. My dissertation therefore addresses the research question: How do different types of women’s participation in intrastate peace processes affect women’s political empowerment in that state in the five years following the peace agreement?
Using an original dataset of women’s participation in peace processes from 1991 to 2016, I test the effects of including local women and international women in various roles in the Track I and Track II components of peace processes on several measures of women's political empowerment. I then conduct case studies and elite interviews in the Philippines, Nepal, Liberia, and El Salvador to illustrate the causal mechanisms connecting women in peace processes to women's political empowerment after conflict.
This dissertation will contribute both empirically and theoretically to the existing literature on women’s political empowerment and women, peace, and security in several ways. In terms of theoretical contributions, this dissertation develops a new theory for why and how peace processes matter for women’s political empowerment – a critical determinant not yet identified in the literature on women’s political empowerment. Additionally, this dissertation contributes a new theoretical approach to the connections between participants in Track I negotiations and in Track II processes. In terms of empirical contributions, this dissertation will provide empirical evidence of how different types of peace process participation can influence political outcomes in post-conflict states. This dissertation will also empirically demonstrate the connection between women in peace processes and women’s political empowerment in post-conflict states. Finally, this research will result in a new database of women’s participation in peace processes that tracks both international and local women’s roles in both Track I and II peace processes.
My dissertation examines the effects of different forms of women's participation in peace processes on women's political empowerment in post-conflict states. Several recent studies (e.g. Tripp 2015; Hughes 2009; Hughes and Tripp 2015; Berry 2018) have identified the post-conflict period as a powerful opportunity to expand women's political empowerment. However, there is still significant variation in levels of women’s political empowerment even between states that emerged from conflict with a peace agreement. My dissertation therefore addresses the research question: How do different types of women’s participation in intrastate peace processes affect women’s political empowerment in that state in the five years following the peace agreement?
Using an original dataset of women’s participation in peace processes from 1991 to 2016, I test the effects of including local women and international women in various roles in the Track I and Track II components of peace processes on several measures of women's political empowerment. I then conduct case studies and elite interviews in the Philippines, Nepal, Liberia, and El Salvador to illustrate the causal mechanisms connecting women in peace processes to women's political empowerment after conflict.
This dissertation will contribute both empirically and theoretically to the existing literature on women’s political empowerment and women, peace, and security in several ways. In terms of theoretical contributions, this dissertation develops a new theory for why and how peace processes matter for women’s political empowerment – a critical determinant not yet identified in the literature on women’s political empowerment. Additionally, this dissertation contributes a new theoretical approach to the connections between participants in Track I negotiations and in Track II processes. In terms of empirical contributions, this dissertation will provide empirical evidence of how different types of peace process participation can influence political outcomes in post-conflict states. This dissertation will also empirically demonstrate the connection between women in peace processes and women’s political empowerment in post-conflict states. Finally, this research will result in a new database of women’s participation in peace processes that tracks both international and local women’s roles in both Track I and II peace processes.
