Breaking bread : examining the intersections of women, cooking and peacebuilding

Abstract

Women are often at the center of our lives and our homes, and a large portion of their lives are dedicated to unpaid and unrecognized labor. This labor is a form of emotional, manual, and symbolic care work which is necessary to sustaining life in the everyday. In the absence of direct violence (what some may call “peace”), women shoulder the burden of social reproduction while facing forms of structural violence which makes security more difficult to achieve. The structural obstacles which prevent women from achieving security before conflict, become exacerbated during and after conflict. For women, even when active violence “ends”, structural violence continues, creating a continuum of insecurity in their everyday lives. However, women also find creative and resilient ways to navigate this violence. Women often use care practices like cooking to maintain social relations, achieve food security and sustain peace. Cooking therefore is not just mechanical skill, but a practice embedded in gendered, social, cultural and political meaning. In spite of this, food studies and cooking is under-researched in the field of conflict resolution. This niche intersection of academia constitutes the starting point of this research. This research explores the use of cooking as a method of creating “everyday peace” in their households and communities. Central to this investigation was the desire to emphasize women’s voices and their everyday lived experiences.