This groundbreaking book offers a comprehensive analysis of the United Nations' efforts to incorporate the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda into its mediation practices. Based on extensive fieldwork and primary material, the book examines how gendered and racialised ideas about mediation as an 'art' or a 'science' have shaped the UN's approach to WPS. Senior mediators view mediation as an art of managing relationships with mostly male negotiators, meaning that including women can threaten parties' consent to the process. Meanwhile, experts and headquarters units see mediation as a science, resulting in the co-optation of gender expertise and local women to reinforce technical approaches to mediation. This has hindered the WPS agenda's goal of meaningful women's participation in peace processes. This book is an essential read for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in gender, peace, and security.

The first dedicated analysis of how the UN's narratives and practices make it hard to achieve inclusive, gender-sensitive mediation.

About the Author
Catriona Standfield is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Worcester State University. She was previously a research fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Her work has been awarded by the International Studies Association and the Academic Council on the UN System.


Book Information
ISBN 9781009512268
Author Catriona Standfield
Format Hardback
Page Count 266
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press