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@PHDTHESIS{Busch:828327,
author = {Busch, Antje},
othercontributors = {Richter, Emanuel and Hinterhuber, Eva Maria},
title = {"{I} always think, when can women become same?" : women's
participation in the {B}ougainville peace process and
post-war political order},
school = {Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen},
type = {Dissertation},
address = {Aachen},
publisher = {RWTH Aachen University},
reportid = {RWTH-2021-09077},
pages = {1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen, Diagramme},
year = {2021},
note = {Veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen
University; Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische
Hochschule Aachen, 2021},
abstract = {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.},
cin = {771220 / 771420},
ddc = {320},
cid = {$I:(DE-82)771220_20170119$ / $I:(DE-82)771420_20140620$},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)11},
doi = {10.18154/RWTH-2021-09077},
url = {https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/828327},
}
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