Title: Intergenerational gaps in women’s grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana: a critique of “inclusive peacebuilding”

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of inclusion in women’s bottom-up peacebuilding in Ghana. Inspired by the growing importance of “inclusion” and “local empowerment” in the discourse and practice of local ownership in peacebuilding, this paper seeks to investigate the scope and degree of inclusion of key actors such as women and youth, and how that affects peacebuilding and sustainable peace in some conflict-affected zones. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a cross-sectional case study design and qualitative strategy. It is based on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions conducted with actors who have been engaged in grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana and West Africa. The analysis was largely inductive, identifying emerging themes and patterns in the research data. Findings The findings indicate that young women are usually absent or not engaged meaningfully in the mobilization of women and youth in the “inclusive” grassroots peacebuilding in Ghana. This is due to the prevalence of deep-seated cultural and political prejudices or stereotypes about women in the areas studied. As these local constructs and thus practices are difficult to change or challenge, peacebuilding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) usually deploy innovative ways by mobilizing socially constructed women’s positionalities – as “whistleblowers,” “cross-ethnic/cross-cultural actors” and “socially networked actors” – in ways that promote women in contemporary peacebuilding discourses and practices. Through mobilizing these stereotypes (to forestall possible provocation, especially from dominant actors or gatekeepers), peacebuilding NGOs have subtly positioned women centrally within a vibrant peace infrastructure in Ghana. Yet, due to the dominance of some patriarchal sociopolitical structures, only older women and young men occupy the spaces for women and youth’s peacebuilding. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first research papers to question not only the scope but also the degree of inclusion and participation of women in peacebuilding in sub-Sahara Africa. This has nuanced scholarly debates on the subject and encouraged the development of innovative programmes targeted at a more comprehensive gendered and youth-ed inclusion to address the inequality gap in peacebuilding discourses and practices.