Resistance to gender equality efforts in international operations

The research project examines resistance to the promotion of gender equality in the context of three different types of international operations: disaster risk reduction, humanitarian, and peacebuilding operations.

Gender perspectives in international operations

In recent decades, gender perspectives have gained a stronger foothold at policy level in the context of international efforts aimed at addressing disasters and conflicts. One example is the Swedish government's feminist foreign policy, which has resulted in the recruitment and deployment of more gender advisors. But despite these efforts at policy level, implementation has been slow. The gender perspective often fails to be implemented beyond a theoretical level. One explanation for this may be that gender equality work is often met with resistance, as it challenges prevailing power structures.

Resistance to gender equality efforts

This project examines resistance to gender equality efforts in the context of three different types of international operations: disaster risk reduction, humanitarian, and peacebuilding operations. The project is centered on three sub-studies. Through an ethnographic approach based on interviews with gender advisors, ethnographic follow-up research methods, and some autoethnographic elements, I will develop three sub-studies.

The first study will identify variations in institutional and interpersonal expressions of resistance, as experienced by gender equality advisors. Study number two will examine how and in what ways resistance differs across the three different types of interventions. The third study will explore the importance of the identity of the gender equality adviser in relation to resistance.