Beyond liberal peacebuilding : talking and reimagining peace with women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia

Abstract

Where do we begin the storytelling of International Relations and Peacebuilding? Who is rendered intelligible and who is not? Whose voices and knowledges are silenced? This feminist-decolonial research takes the reader on a journey to engage with and re-imagine peace through the experiences of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia. The aim is to comprehend what peace signifies to these women, articulated through their lived embodied experiences and strategies for nurturing peace within their communities. This research underscores the necessity for plural knowledges and approaches to peacebuilding, challenging dominant narratives. Grounded in a feminist-decolonial framework, this study employs methodological approaches that re-centre embodied experiences and prioritise collaboration, relationality, respect, and reciprocity in understanding peace within conflict-affected societies. Fieldwork involved in-depth conversations with women in the DRC and Liberia, revealing that relationality and communality are central to their peacebuilding efforts. Ultimately, this research developed the concept of communal peacebuilding. This concept, deeply rooted in Congolese and Liberian women’s lived and embodied experiences, challenges the individualism and linearity characteristic of liberal peacebuilding practices. It encapsulates a holistic approach that includes harmony, togetherness, spirituality, mutual support, healing, stability, and collective well-being. The strategies employed by these women are intrinsically linked to their relational identities within their communities, positioning them uniquely to influence and sustain peace. By foregrounding the voices and knowledge of these women, this study critically intervenes in mainstream peacebuilding and IR discourses, which have often marginalised indigenous women’s perspectives. Additionally, it enriches the field of gender and peacebuilding by applying a feminist-decolonial lens to question the adequacy of ‘gender’ as an analytical tool for addressing issues pertinent to African women. Contextually, this research contributes to the growing scholarship on women and peacebuilding in the DRC and Liberia, introducing a feminist-decolonial approach absent in existing literature.