Gender and the micro-dynamics of violent conflicts

Abstract

Conventional stories about conflicts often miss the role of everyday practices in escalating and de-escalating violence and how intersecting social dynamics of gender, ethnicity, age, and religion shape these practices. In this article, we introduce the Special Section on Gender and the Micro-Dynamics of Violent Conflicts. Situating the section within the scholarship on gender and violent conflict, we discuss the opportunities and paradoxes opened up by the adoption of a micro-level approach. We present theoretical and methodological reflections that emerge from the findings of the contributions and that arose in the process of implementing the research project on which these articles draw. We also reflect on the practical implications of our research. Specifically, we discuss conundrums of violent conflict research regarding two key feminist concepts – namely, gender and intersectionality – and explore (explanatory) arguments about the complex intersectional relationships between gender and violent conflict.