Three Dimensions of Gender Mainstreaming in Economic Peacebuilding: Insights from Indonesia and Nigeria

Abstract

Recent contributions to feminist security studies have pushed to reshape the post-conflict women, peace and security agenda by taking the political economy of peacebuilding seriously. This chapter contributes to this scholarship by exploring how gender is mainstreamed in economic peacebuilding projects in Indonesia and Nigeria, and by providing a case study on how local beneficiaries have experienced one such programme in Indonesia. It analyses United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women documents, and interviews with project officers and beneficiaries of an economic peacebuilding initiative in Indonesia, along three dimensions: the adoption (or lack thereof) of gender in international organisations’ programming, the meanings and shapes gender takes in the documents and programmes, and the possible governmental effects of these programmes. The chapter argues that while gender has been widely adopted in international organisations’ strategy documents, its integration into local programmes is uneven. It illustrates how gender representations and stereotypes can guide the design and implementation of programmes, with effects ranging from the further entrenchment of conservative gendered norms to the perceived improvement of status for some beneficiaries. Regarding the third dimension, or governmental effects of gender mainstreaming in economic peacebuilding, the chapter highlights the shift of funds to preventing/countering violent extremism programmes and the overreliance on neo-liberal economic frameworks and reasoning.