&quot;I always think, when can women become same?&quot; : women's participation in the Bougainville peace process and post-war political order

Busch, Antje; Hinterhuber, Eva Maria; Richter, Emanuel

doi:HT021090652

"I always think, when can women become same?" : women's participation in the Bougainville peace process and post-war political order = Weibliche Partizipation im Friedensprozess und der Nachkriegsordnung von Bougainville

Busch, Antje^RWTH*

2021

Verantwortlichkeitsangabevorgelegt von Antje Busch, M.A

ImpressumAachen : RWTH Aachen University 2021

Umfang1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen, Diagramme

Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2021

Veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University

Genehmigende Fakultät
Fak07

Hauptberichter/Gutachter
Richter, Emanuel (Thesis advisor)^RWTH* ; Hinterhuber, Eva Maria (Thesis advisor)

Tag der mündlichen Prüfung/Habilitation
2021-03-22

Online
DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2021-09077
URL: https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/828327/files/828327.pdf

Einrichtungen

Inhaltliche Beschreibung (Schlagwörter)
Frauenquote (frei) ; Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (frei) ; Friedensprozess (frei) ; Gender (frei) ; Nachkriegspolitik (frei) ; Papua Neuguinea (frei)

Thematische Einordnung (Klassifikation)
DDC: 320

Kurzfassung
Die Dissertation untersucht inwieweit die Einführung einer 50% politischen Frauenquote auf kommunaler Ebene der Nachkriegsregion Bougainville (Papua Neuguinea) eine Manifestation von konfliktbedingten Gender Norm Shift und Empowerment der Frauen darstellt.

Armed conflict terminates the life of its victims and radically transforms the realities of its survivors. Participation in conflict and its transitions is constrained by its (gendered) social contexts (Sjoberg (2016) quoted in Kaufman/Williams 2016a: 205). The Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB) is a region where a decade long conflict caused death and devastation, which was followed by new beginnings in the form of significant change in gender relations and women's political participation in particular. The initial cause for this transformation was the locally called Bougainville Crisis (1989-1998), the second longest and deadliest conflict in the South Pacific since the end of World War II in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) easternmost province (Boege 2009: 206). A mining dispute about revenue shares, employment opportunities, and environmental damage caused the conflict (Regan 2010: 17). After failed negotiations with the mining company and central government, protest formed, followed by repressive action of government forces that led to a secession war from Papua New Guinea (PNG) (Boege 2008b: 1–2). Turning from a war of civilians against 'foreign' government troops, the conflict later escalated into a war among Bougainvilleans themselves. Due to customary principles and methods, traditional dispute settlement in Bougainville requires the participation and the commitment of all members of the parties involved in a conflict (Boege 2011: 448). Bougainville's women played a leading role in resolving this conflict: Their contributions to peacebuilding, both in localized contexts and within formalized peace processes, are celebrated within the country and have been accorded respect across the Pacific Islands region (George 2019: 475). Women then used this opportunity, and the post-war period of political transformation to successfully negotiate for more political representation. In 2004, as the first and so far, only island in the Pacific region, Bougainville introduced three seats in its regional parliament that are reserved for women. Eventually, in 2016 a 50 percent women's quota for its government system at the local level with a gender parity in its leadership was established (Fraenkel 2006b: 59–60; Baker 2019: 103). Research Gap Despite international awareness, scholarly attention, and regardless of them being one of the biggest (and often successful) groups advocating for peace, women are, historically, the group most marginalized in official peace negotiations (Bell/O'Rouke (2010) quoted in Aoláin et al. 2011: 5). Periods of conflict and its aftermath can open "windows of opportunity" (Baker 2018: 112) and backlashes for women. The example of Bougainville contributes to this discourse as a case where women secured their post-war gains in the form of electoral quotas on the regional and local levels. In general, post-war electoral quotas for women on the national level are well studied by (political) scientists, while post-war quotas on the local level are as yet unassessed. The thesis seeks to address these gaps in the literature by analyzing whether the introduction of Bougainville's political gender provisions is part of a more considerable post-war gender norm shift and a manifestation of women's empowerment. Through an examination of women's participation in the peace process and its post-war political order, I aim to comprehend women's role in local institutions.Research Interest and Research QuestionThis thesis seeks to contribute to the overlapping research area of Political Science, feminist International Relations, Gender Studies as well as Peace and Conflict Studies. By way of a case study on women in a matrilineal society who were instrumental in creating lasting peace and a stable post-war political order, this project seeks to answer questions that bear relevance beyond the Pacific area. To conduct this research, the project discusses the overall research question of whether Bougainville's electoral quota introduction constitutes part of a more considerable post-war gender norm shift and a manifestation of women's post-war empowerment. In doing this, this thesis examines women's participation in local government, as this is an area where a major post-war gain materialized and remains contested as Bougainville prepares for its independence. The aforementioned research questions look into the sustainable and robust post-war political order that is accepted by society; investigate societal institutions and processes that represent all citizens leading to more inclusiveness and participation, and examine the involvement and the advancement of women that were not yet able to participate fully.Research and Fieldwork MethodologyTo conduct this research, a qualitative research design was chosen because it is preferable when choosing an in-depth analysis of a few or just a single case or exploring areas in which there is only a limited research (Willner 2012: 625). This thesis has an explorative research character since no empirical work had yet been completed on women in Bougainville's local level government institutions. Methodologically, this thesis follows Meuser/Nagel's (1991, 1994, 2002) approach to qualitative semi-structured interviews specifically designed for expert interviews. Limited previous research, the thesis' explorative research character with a focus on expert interviews and popularity of this approach among scholars working in this context guided this methodological choice. The field research phase was between August and October 2018. During this time, 42 semi-structured expert interviews were conducted which is on the larger side in the qualitative research spectrum. Interview partners were women from the peace movement, Council of Elders, and Community Governments in northern and central Bougainville. Interview preparation took place at the Department for Pacific Affairs (DPA) of Australian National University (ANU), supported by DPA scholars with similar research in Bougainville and extensive field experience.

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