1. ‘Peace with a Woman’s Face’: Women, Social Media and the Colombian Peace Process
- Author:
- Alexis Henshaw
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Journal:
- Contexto Internacional
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
- Abstract:
- The idea that men and women approach conflict resolution differently forms the back- bone of the international agenda on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and is supported by a growing body of scholarship in international relations. However, the role of women who represent insurgent groups in peace talks remains understudied, given the relatively rare appearance of such women in peace processes. The present study examines how men and women from the negotiating team of the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) engaged in public-facing discourse on Twitter leading up to a referendum on the peace accords in 2016. Using a mixed-methods ap- proach that includes computational analysis and a close reading of social media posts, I demonstrate that women in the FARC’s negotiating team were more successful social media users than their male counterparts and that they offered a distinct contribution to the discourse on peace, centring the relevance of gender and promoting issue linkages like the need to address LGBTI rights.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Gender Issues, Mass Media, Social Media, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and South America