in the thick of it

There is so much great material on my topic out there, such as this article I just finished reading (thank goodness I stumbled upon it!)


"BETWEEN REALITY AND REPRESENTATION
Women’s Agency in War and Post-Conflict Sri Lanka" by DARINI RAJASINGHAM-SENANAYAKE in Cultural Dynamics

What is particularly interesting about the articles is the author's rejection of traditonal theories of liberalisation whereby it is assumed there is a linear path of development towards the greater and more meaningful roles for women in any given soceity.

She also points out that women political leaders ( a sort of goal of empowerment) do not necessarily improve women's lives in a significant way, although they may minimize the impact of extreme misogynist cultural norms. Women leaders in prominenet positions are rarely 'born great' but are sort of the legacies of men (wives/daughters), for example in Sri Lanka this is the case with Sirimavo and Chandrika Bandaranaike. "In short, even powerful South Asian women rarely appear to be agents of their destinies—in war or in peacetime." [143]

She also raises the point that although the PM Chandrika Bandaranaike made an effort to distance herself from stout Sinhala nationalism, political survival meant she had to become embroiled in the conflict as well. This has opened up a new way of seeing for me with regards to institutional arrangements, that is to say they have a sizeable impact on how conflict resoultion is avoided, diluted or misled.