Gender Justice: “Gender” in the Bangsamoro Development Plan

Abstract

This chapter is a preliminary inquiry into gender, conflict, and peace in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. I look into the role of gender in the conflict, women’s participation in peace negotiations, and gender equality as a component of peace and development. I suggest that gender inequality, in the form of a gender order, has historically shaped conflict in Mindanao. I review women’s participation in peace negotiations in Southeast Asia through the cases of Aceh, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Finally, using critical frame analysis, I look at how gender has been framed in the Bangsamoro Development Plan, a roadmap for sustainable peace of the proposed Bangsamoro government. I find that the gender order has shaped the roles men and women have taken in Bangsamoro history and that women’s participation does not necessarily translate to having gender on the agenda of peace negotiations. I underscore the relevance of increased women’s participation in peace and development processes and critically framing gender on peace agendas. I maintain that attending to the quality of gender discourse by (re)politicising “gender” to bring back its emancipatory aim is an aspect of a sustainable peace.