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Navigating gender in elite bargains: Women's movements and the quest for inclusive peace in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2021

Alexandra Phelan Open the ORCID record for Alexandra Phelan [Opens in a new window]  and
Jacqui True Open the ORCID record for Jacqui True [Opens in a new window]
Alexandra Phelan*
Affiliation:
Politics and International Relations, Monash University, Victoria, Australia and Deputy Director of the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre (Monash GPS)
Jacqui True
Affiliation:
Director of the Gender, Peace and Security Centre at Monash University and a Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

A growing body of scholarship connects the participation of women and the inclusion of gender provisions to the sustainability of peace settlements. But how do women's groups navigate gender power structures and gendered forms of violence within complex and fragile political bargaining processes aimed at ending large-scale conflict? The 2016 Colombian peace agreement, internationally applauded for its inclusion of strong gender provisions and women's participation as negotiators and peace advocates, is a significant case for examining these questions. Drawing on original case material, including interviews of key actors on different sides of the conflict – this article analyses the political bargaining dynamics within and among women's movements, the Santos government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). We argue that the inclusion of women was pivotal in transforming the elite bargaining process and power structures of Colombian society enabling a gender-based approach to the substantive peace agenda addressing transitional gender justice for sexual violence survivors and gender-equal redistribution through land and rural reform programmes. The study suggests that deeply situated political bargaining analysis is essential to navigating gender in elite bargains rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to inclusive peace.

Keywords

GenderWomenPeace NegotiationsElite BargainsInclusive PeacePeace AgreementsColombiaFARC
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 171 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association

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References

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3 See Cheng, Goodhand, and Meehan, ‘Synthesis paper’; Putzel and Di John, ‘Meeting the Challenges of Crisis States’; Lindemann, Stefan, ‘Inclusive elite bargains and the dilemma of unproductive peace: A Zambian case study’, Third World Quarterly, 32:1010 (2011), pp. 1843–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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10 True and Rivero-Morales, ‘Towards inclusive peace’.

11 See UN Women, ‘Take Five: A Successful Peace Process Simply Demands the Active and Meaningful Participation of Women At All Levels’ (30 October 2018), available at: {https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/10/take-five-jean-arnault-on-peace-processes}.

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13 See UN Women, ‘Take Five’, p. 5.

14 The ‘Toward Inclusive Peace' hosted by Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre (Monash GPS) project dataset included five main types of gender provisions related to: (1) The participation of women the participation of women (that is, gender quotas, national women's machineries, in governmental bodies and postconflict governance); (2) Postconflict issues and transitional justice (accountability, consideration of the special needs of women during repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration); (3) Violence against women (for example, sexual violence as a violation of ceasefire); (4) Women's economic empowerment and development (that is, land and inheritance rights, women's roles in implementation, education, capacity-building, special attention to female heads of households); and lastly, (5) Any reference to international women-specific legal or human rights mechanisms (such as Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW or UNSCR 1325). The dataset is available at: {https://monash.figshare.com/articles/Toward_Inclusive_Peace_Mapping_Gender_Provisions_of_Peace_Agreements/6948869}; see also True and Riveros-Morales, ‘Towards inclusive peace’.

15 See True and Riveros-Morales, ‘Towards inclusive peace’.

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22 Cheng, Goodhand, and Meehan, ‘Synthesis paper’, p. 11.

23 ‘Substantive representation’ can be understood as the representation of women's political interests and gendered perspectives forged through a process of organising around a common agenda. See Phillips, Anne, The Politics of Presence (Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1995)Google Scholar.

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26 Andreas Schädel and Véronique Dudouet, ‘Incremental Inclusivity: A Recipe for Effective Peace Processes?’ (Berghof Foundation, 2020), p. 20, available at: {https://www.cinep.org.co/Home2/images/2020Noticias/Incremental%20inclusivity%20-%20A%20recipe%20for%20effective%20peace%20processes.pdf}.

27 See Cheng, Goodhand, and Meehan, ‘Synthesis paper’.

28 Ibid., p. 38.

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38 Thania Paffenholz, Nicholas Ross, Steven Dixon, Anna-Lena Schluchter, and Jacqui True, Making Women Count – Not Just Counting Women: Assessing Women's Inclusion and Influence on Peace Negotiations (Geneva: Inclusive Peace and Transition Initiative and UN Women, 2016), pp. 6–7.

39 Ibid., p. 7.

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47 Ibid.

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52 Virginia Bouvier, ‘Gender and the Role of Women in Colombia's Peace Process’, UN Women Background Paper (Washington, DC, 2016), p. 19.

53 Authors’ interview with Casa de la Mujer representative, Bogotá, 2017.

54 Authors’ interview with Bienstar Familiar representative, Bogotá, 2017.

55 La República, ‘Se adopta nueva política pública acerca de la igualdad de género’ (17 September 2013), available at: {https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/actualidad/se-adopta-nueva-politica-publica-acerca-de-la-igualdad-de-genero-2061586}.

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58 These forums were facilitated by the United Nations System in Colombia and the National University's Centre for Reflection and Monitoring the Peace Talks, and women participated in working groups throughout nine Colombian regions that were organised by the Peace Commissions of the House and Senate, with the support of the United Nations System. See Bouvier, ‘Gender and the Role of Women’, p. 20

59 Authors’ interview with former Colombian rapporteur, Oslo, 2017.

60 Liliana Zambrano and Felipe Gómez Isa, ‘Participation of Civil Society in the Colombian Peace Process’, Norwegian Peacebuilding Research Centre (2013), p. 4.

61 Ibid.

62 See ONU Mujeres, Oficina del Alto Comisionado para la Paz, FIP, Suecia, ‘Participación de las organizaciones de mujeres que realizaron aportes en el marco del proceso de paz con las FARC’ (2017), available at: {https://colombia.unwomen.org/es/biblioteca/publicaciones/2017/05/cuadernillo-mujeres-fip}.

63 This consisted of representatives from 132 feminist organisations, 43 national and territorial peace initiatives, 38 local experiences of women in peace construction, 33 peasant organisations, 36 victims organisations, 25 Afro-Colombian organisations, 18 student organisations, 21 indigenous organisations, 14 departmental, municipal and advisory councils, 14 human rights organisations, 7 community grassroots organisations, 6 environmental organisations, 6 LGBTI organisations, 6 churches, 6 educational and cultural organisations, 6 political parties, 6 academic sector, 7 universities and research centres, 6 union organisations, and 4 media and communications. See Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz, Sistematización, 23–5 October 2013, Bogotá (National Summit of Women and Peace, 2014), p. 18.

64 Authors’ interview with UN Women in Colombia representative, Bogotá, 2017.

65 Authors’ interview with Ruta Pacífica representative, Bogotá, 2017.

66 Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz, Sistematización, 23–5 October 2013, Bogotá (National Summit of Women for Peace, 2014), p. 17.

67 See Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz, Sistematización (National Summit of Women for Peace).

68 Authors’ interview with former government negotiator, Bogotá, 2017.

69 Bouvier, ‘Gender and the Role of Women’, p. 20.

70 See Céspedes-Báez and Ruiz, ‘“Peace without women does not go!”’.

71 Cheng, Goodhand, and Meehan, ‘Synthesis paper’, p. 3.

72 Ibid.

73 Ibid., p. 30.

74 See Phelan, ‘Engaging insurgency’ and Alexandra Phelan, ‘FARC's pursuit of “taking power”: Insurgent social contracts, the drug trade and appeals to Eudaemonic legitimation’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (2019), pp. 1–23.

75 Available at: {http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/desarrollos-legistlativos-paz/marco-juridico-para-la-paz/Documentos%20compartidos/Acto-Legislativo-N-01-del-31-de-julio-de-2012-4.pdf}.

76 See Jennifer Thomson, ‘The women, peace, and security agenda and feminist institutionalism: A research agenda’, International Studies Review (2018), pp. 1–16.

77 Céspedes-Báez and Ruiz, ‘“Peace without women does not go!”’, p. 99.

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83 El Espectador, ‘Los logros de la Subcomisión de Género en tres acuerdos de la Habana’ (2016), available at: {https://colombia2020.elespectador.com/politica/los-logros-de-la-subcomision-de-genero-en-tres-acuerdos-de-la-habana}.

84 Céspedes-Báez and Ruiz, ‘“Peace without women does not go!”’, p. 102.

85 ABColombia, ‘Towards Transformative Change’, p. 9.

86 Authors’ interview with former Norwegian mediator, Oslo, 2017.

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88 Hilde Salveson and Dag Nylander, Towards an Inclusive Peace: Women and the Gender Approach in the Colombian Peace Process, report for Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF) (5 July 2017).

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95 See Kreft, ‘Responding to sexual violence’; Sanín, Francisco Gutiérrez and Franco, Francy Carranza, ‘Organizing women for combat: The experience of the FARC in the Colombian war’, Journal of Agrarian Change, 17:4 (2017), pp. 770–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Welsh, Alexandra Mary, ‘Women of the jungle: Guerrilleras on the front lines of the FARC-EP’, Glendon Journal of International Studies/Revue d'études internationales de Glendon, 8:1–2 (2015)Google Scholar; Lemaitre, Julieta and Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora, ‘Beyond sexual violence in transitional justice: Political insecurity as a gendered harm’, Feminist Legal Studies, 22:3 (2014), pp. 243–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Herrera, Natalia and Porch, Douglas ‘“Like going to a fiesta”: The role of female fighters in Colombia's FARC-EP’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 19:4 (2008), pp. 609–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar; among others.

96 Authors’ interview with FARC leader No. 1, Bogotá, 2017.

97 FARC-EP, Tesis de mujer y género FARC-EP: Congreso Constitutivo del Partido, Feminismo Insurgente (2017).

98 Ibid., p. 3.

99 Authors’ interview with FARC member, Icononzo, 2017.

100 FARC-EP, Tesis de mujer y género, p. 4

101 Ibid., p. 3.

102 Ibid., p. 5.

103 Authors’ interview with FARC leader No. 1, Bogotá, 2017.

104 Ibid.

105 El Espectador, ‘Conozca las sietes mujeres que velarán porque el enfoque de género del acuerdo sea una realidad’ (2017), available at: {https://colombia2020.elespectador.com/pais/conozca-las-siete-mujeres-que-velaran-porque-el-enfoque-de-genero-del-acuerdo-sea-una-realidad}.

106 Céspedes-Báez, Lina, ‘Gender panic and the failure of a peace agreement’, AJIL Unbound, 110 (2016), p. 183CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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108 For how gender, and the gender-security nexus, can be politicised, see Aggestam, Karin and Rosamond, Annika Bergman, ‘Re-politicising the gender-security nexus: Sweden's feminist foreign policy’, European Review of International Studies, 5:3 (2018), pp. 30–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: {https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v5i3.02}.

109 While the question of implementation is not the focus of this article, it is the focus of our future and ongoing research.

110 Christine Bell, Text and Context: Evaluating Peace Agreements for their Gender Perspective, PSRP Report (2015), p. 2.

111 ‘Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build A Stable and Lasting Peace’ (24 November 2016), p. 205, available at: {http://especiales.presidencia.gov.co/Documents/20170620-dejacion-armas/acuerdos/acuerdo-final-ingles.pdf}.

112 Salveson and Nylander, ‘Towards an inclusive peace’, p. 5.

113 Authors’ interview with former government negotiator, Bogotá, 2017.

114 Authors’ interview with Ruta Pacifica representative, Bogotá, 2017.

115 Authors’ interview with former government technical team member, Bogotá, 2017.

116 Authors’ interview with Office of the High Commissioner for Peace representative, Bogotá, 2017.

117 Authors’ interview with FARC CSIVI Representative No. 1, Bogotá, 2017.

118 Authors’ interview with Mujeres por la Paz representative, Bogotá, 2017.

119 Authors’ interview with Director of Transitional Justice, Bogotá, 2017.

120 Authors’ interview with former Vice Minister of Defense, Bogotá, 2017.

121 Authors’ interview with with FARC CSIVI Representative No. 2, Bogotá, 2017

122 Putzel and Di John, ‘Meeting the Challenges of Crisis States’, p. 2.

123 Authors’ interview with former FARC combatant, Icononzo, 2017.

124 Authors’ interview with FARC CSIVI representative No. 1, Bogotá, 2017.

125 Authors’ interview with Office of the High Commissioner for Peace representative, Bogotá, 2017.

126 Authors’ interview with Director of Transitional Justice, Bogotá, 2017.

127 Ellerby, ‘A seat at the table’, p. 150.

128 Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz, Sistematización, 19–21 September, Bogotá (National Summit of Women for Peace, 2016), p. 10.