Women in Peace Politics | Edited by: Paula Banerjee | Publisher: Sage | Price: Rs 450

Women in Peace Politics deals with the myriad dimensions of peace as practised by South Asian women. Sumit Narula explains how this volume chronicles the lives of ordinary women, their transformative role in peace, as well as their effort to create a space for themselves.

Women in Peace Studies explores the role of women as agents and visionaries of peace in South Asia. Peace is redefined to include in its fold the attempt by women to be a part of the peace process, reworking the structural inequalities faced by them and their struggle against all forms of oppression.

Peace has become a maximal concept, refusing a minimalist version, that stops with the all-encompassing idea of security. This was never so apparent than in present times when draconian laws and outright aggression are being projected as the pathways to peace.

The first volume of the South Asian Peace Studies introduced the concept, scope and themes of peace studies. The second volume dealt with peace accords in this region. The third volume narrates the experiences of women in conflict and peace. It also deals with the myriad dimensions of peace as practised by South Asian women over a period of time. It chronicles the lives of ‘ordinary’ women – their transformative role in peace and their attempt to create a space of their own. Their peace activism is examined in the historical context of their participation in national liberation movements since the early 20th century. The articles in the collection adopt a new approach to understanding peace as a desire to end repression that cuts across caste, class, race and gender and an effort on the part of women to transform their position in society.

The book’s premise is that women are important actors in peace politics. Now, before addressing the question of why the focus on women in peace politics, one has to make an attempt to define what is peace. Peace has long been a problem and a puzzle. It is neither sensational nor heroic enough to command its own genre of history.

Women’s engagements with peace started centuries ago, perhaps simultaneously with their engagements in war. We have heard of Lysistrata in Aristophanes’ Greek drama. The known history of women’s activism in peace movements is a more recent phenomenon. From the early 20th century, the cause of women and the cause of peace have been seen as inseparable. Jane Addams helped convene a group of women at The Hague to deliberate on how to create institutions that would serve as an alternative to war.

There are three sections in this volume: Ideas and Ideologies, Movements, and Voices, reflecting the three genres through which women’s peace politics in South Asia are often played out.

In Ideologies, it becomes clear that desire for peace is not restricted to women from any particular ideology and as a strategy it is constantly evolving. The next section portrays how movements, or rather practices, create peace politics. The third section underscores the idea that to understand women in peace politics, one has to listen to women’s voices.