Chapter 4 - Intersectionality: A Feminist Theory for Transitional Justice

Summary

The globalisation of transitional justice as a framework for the resolution of conflicts is recognised as a remarkable phenomenon of the post-Cold War era. The transitional framework is regarded by advocates as a mechanism for enabling politically conflicted and post-colonial societies to institutionalise universal principles of equality and human rights within processes of statebuilding or regime reform. Intersectionality theory, too, has achieved an extraordinary status ‘at the cutting edge of feminist theorising’, particularly in the European context. It enables us to analyse these principles in practice. In particular, it poses useful theoretical and empirical questions for explaining gendered dimensions of transitions in cultures that are described as ‘deeply divided’. This chapter explores these questions in relation to women's absence in peace negotiations and the silence in negotiations on material matters to do with women's day-to-day lives, with a focus on Northern Ireland's 1998 Agreement as a site for intersectional analysis. The pragmatic implications of universal claims for equality are examined in this jurisdiction where political and religious inequalities are recognised in law. The analysis affirms critical correlations between structural, economic and political inequality, violent conflict and the limitations of law as a discursive framework for conflict resolution. An intersectional conceptualisation of gender aids in understanding the local realities of women's lives in this and other transitions. This also goes some way to explaining women's political agency and the dilemmas facing feminist advocacy in these circumstances. The original intersectional triad of race/class/ gender is flexible. This is why it is such a useful tool for feminist analysis in contexts as diverse as the ‘Arab Spring’, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland. Each of these locations, and most, if not all, transitional jurisdictions are characterised by histories that invoke identity discourses. Intersectionality theory can be used to examine the material and cultural potency of these discourses in women's lives locally and globally. This leads to the recommendation that targeting deeprooted inequalities reduces the divisiveness of identity politics and strengthens political stability. In this way marginalised women's lives can be improved and the root causes of a conflict addressed. This is fundamentally about the distribution of resources within a society in transition. Parties emerging from violent political conflict are unlikely to view this recommendation in a neutral light.