Abstract
Consociational democracy has become the most influential paradigm in the field of power-sharing institutional design and post-conflict peacebuilding. Consociation institutes representation for certain formerly excluded groups. However, it simultaneously inhibits effective political representation for groups that do not align with the societal divisions that consociation seeks to accommodate, specifically the ‘additional’ cleavage of gender. Given the extensive use of the consociational model as a peacebuilding tool in divided states and the growing awareness of the disproportionate negative effect of conflict on women, there is a surprising lack of consideration of the effect that consociational power-sharing has on women’s representation. This article considers the specific impact that the consociational model has on women’s representation. We argue that because gender is an integral factor in conflict, it should therefore be integral to post-conflict governance. With empirical reference to contemporary Northern Ireland, it is illustrated that consociationalism is a ‘gender-blind’ theory.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 618-633 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | British Journal of Politics and International Relations |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 2 Jun 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2016 |
Keywords
- consocationalism
- gender
- Northern Ireland
- post-conflict
- power-sharing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Political Science and International Relations
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
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Jennifer Thomson
- Politics, Languages & International Studies - Senior Lecturer
- Centre for Development Studies
- Centre for Qualitative Research
- Centre for the Study of Violence
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff