CALL FOR PAPERS: International Feminist Journal of Politics: Critically Examining UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

This is a call for papers for a special issue of International Feminist Journal of Politics: Critically Examining UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. We seek articles for a special issue of the International Feminist Journal of Politics that critically examines UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security, its implementation and its relevancy to women's activism, the protection of women in conflict, conflict resolution and peace building and/or the governance of international peace and security in different parts of the world. We welcome articles presenting new empirical data on single or multiple cases in different parts of the world and/or theoretical explorations of 1325, from a diversity of disciplinary backgrounds, not only politics.

In addition to scholarly articles presenting new empirical data or theoretical discussions, we are interested as well in reflection pieces by activists/practitioners, pedagogical discussions, film commentaries, conference/meeting reports and other contributions, which if accepted would appear in the Conversations section of the issue.

Some of the questions that this special issue attempts to answer include:

• To what degree is Resolution 1325 actually being translated into programmes and measures on the ground and with what outcome for women's lives and for peace and security?
• What are the implications of the resolution's focus on armed conflict, as opposed to other forms of structural violence, for peace and security?
• How do women activists in conflict areas use UNSCR 1325?
• How do they reconcile, if at all, the universality of the resolution with the particularity of different conflict situations?
• Is the privileging of a universal gender identity in understanding women's experiences and responses to conflict, above other social categories – such as, nationality, class, ethnicity or religion, amongst others - a useful tool or an obstacle to women's activism?
• What does the formulation, adoption and/or implementation of 1325 tell us about the nature of post-Cold War global governance?

By reflecting on these questions, this special issue will provide critical evaluations of 1325, more than ten years following its passage. In addition, it will enable the consideration of wider issues concerning the gendering of global governance, the utility of international law/universal norms in ending conflict and/or empowering women, the degree to which universal values are undermined by geo-political realities and the degree to which resistance to global structural inequalities that give rise to conflicts are expressed as resistance to universalism and, with what implications for women and gender relations.

Submission Guidelines and Deadline

Prospective authors should submit their articles to ifjp@yorku.ca by 30 July 2010. Articles should be between 5000 and 8000 words. Pieces for the Conversations section should be around 2500 words. Please follow the journal house-style and supply a biographical note, an abstract and contact information with your submission (see the IFJP website for instructions for authors: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/rfjpauth.asp).