Building feminist peace: gender, legal reforms and social reproduction after the United Nations Mission in Liberia

Abstract

This article explores efforts to attain feminist peace in Liberia by critically examining the implementation of gender-sensitive provisions in two national reforms that seek to transform the country after war: the Land Rights Act 2018 and the Local Government Act 2018. Drawing from extensive fieldwork, it argues that these reforms are sites of struggle between the goal of national transformation towards feminist peace and the reproduction of existing socio-political cleavages, with a particular focus on (certain) women’s political, socio-economic and gender oppression. The article also demonstrates how despite implementation failures and lack of consultation, these legal reforms open new (in)formal spaces for building feminist peace. Attending to the ways in which women resist and mobilise in these newly (in)formal spaces, the article brings to light the peace work these women are doing for transforming post-war gender regimes that prevent women’s representation and a more equitable redistribution of power and resources.Key messagesThis article explores efforts to attain feminist peace in Liberia by examining gender-sensitive provisions in two national reforms: the Land Rights Act 2018 and the Local Government Act 2018.National reforms are sites of struggle between the aspirations for national transformation and the reproduction of existing socio-political cleavages.Feminist peace takes social reproduction as a priority.