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Dissertation Proposal Defense - Carissa Western
Monday, January 23, 2017
10:00am - 12:00pm
Metropolitan Building, Room 5000
Elusive Empowerment: Assessing the Impacts of Conflict on Gendered Relations, Identities and Opportunities in Acholiland
Committee:
Dr. Leslie K Dwyer (Chair)
Dr. Agnieszka Paczynska
Dr. Supriya Bailey
Abstract:
The research project will seek to explore changes in gender roles and dynamics brought about by conflict in Acholiland, Northern Uganda, and to understand how these changes have affected cultural/traditional ideas about masculinity and femininity and the positions/situation of Acholi women and men in post-conflict society. While research has indicated both local level economic gains, and changes in women’s political participation and representation at the national level, the project will seek to explore, holistically, how changes brought about by conflict impact, both positively and negatively, all aspects of Acholi women (and men’s) lives. Given the significant role played by NGOs/INGOs in implementing Northern Uganda’s peacebuilding and development agenda, the project will also seek to understand how organizations/stakeholders working in this context are addressing and responding to changing gender norms and dynamics, and whether such approaches are in line with women and men’s own interpretation of their experiences and needs. Lessons from other conflict and post-conflict contexts suggest that too often post-conflict development actors rely on external measures and benchmarks to assess such changes, without adequately capturing or responding to women and men’s perspectives and attitudes towards their own situation. The project will prioritize Acholi women and men’s own interpretation of their conflict experiences, and of the impact of conflict-triggered changes on their roles and status within their families and communities. Working with two communities in Gulu district, the project will utilize a combination of conventional qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation, as well as participatory methods including life-story interviews and participatory video.