Gender, Conflict and Peace in Kashmir

This book demonstrates that gender is a key component of conflict and peace discourse. The marginalization of women in conflict and peace is all pervasive. Kashmir is a mirror image of this global scenario. Kashmiri women aided the militant movement in significant ways though they did not take part in direct combat. They played key roles to sustain and nourish the movement – as protestors, protectors and motivators, and facilitators. Their experiences of participation in the conflict, however, remain subdued by the dominant masculinist discourse. Kashmiri women are excluded from the militancy discourse as contributors as well as from peacemaking discourse as stakeholders. The study interrogates theory and practice of women's participation in conflict and argues that changed gender-roles during conflict do not necessarily revolutionize socially ascribed norms. The book also examines the experiences of women in sustaining conflict to make a case for their due place in negotiating formal peace.

• Provides novel insights on gender and conflict in South Asia with Kashmir as locus of the study
• Combines theoretical framework with empirical analysis to demonstrate the crucial significance of gender for conflict and peace discourse
• Transcends traditional victimhood discourse to focus on the role of women as actors and argues that it is essential to recognize the position of women in conflict