Peacebuilding Through the Care Work Lens

Abstract

This chapter examines the contribution of women as caregivers to peacebuilding and why they are needed in peacebuilding processes. It outlines how women can be granted audience in formal peacebuilding processes and justifies why their role as care workers during and in the aftermath of conflict should be acknowledged in national and international peace discourses. It also recommends that the peacebuilding processes should be carried out pragmatically, considering wartime care work arrangements and ethics of care. Women as caregivers during conflict have practical experiences and thus are best suited to ensure pragmatic approaches to peacebuilding. Finally, it analyses the impact of armed conflict on gender inequality, considering care work.