Gender politics and security discourse

Since the United Nations Security Council adopted UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in
October 2000, there have been debates about how to achieve "gender security". This thesis explores
competing modes of constructions about "gender security" within feminist and women's NGOs in
Serbia, highlighting the ways that personal-political imaginations of Serbia's conflict and post-conflict
pasts, presents and futures affect the logics of "gender security".
Part one explores the configurations of "gender security" amongst feminist and women's NGOs in
Serbia. Post-structural discourse analysis strategies are deployed to investigate the personal-political
imaginations of conflict and post-conflict constituting how feminism and security is thought about.
Utilising field research conducted in Serbia during 2008 and 2009, the discursive construction of
competing modes of thought about gender and/or security amongst activists is revealed, highlighting
that the way that conflict and post-conflict is thought about profoundly affects these modes of
thought.
Part two is an in-depth examination of the performance of UNseR 1325 within two case studies.
UNSCR 1325 is taken to be the site of discursive contact between gender and security, and is
productive of the articulation and representation of gender security policies and agendas. The first
case study centres upon the feminist-pacifist debate, focussing upon Women in Black. UNSCR 1325
is utilised as a political tool to support the advocacy work of Women in Black. In contrast, the
second case study explores ways specific discourses of gender security has stimulated political action.
An investigation of the broader domestic violence debate in Serbia makes clear how international
gender security discourses triggered an increasing concern about small arms and light weapons
(SALW) abuse within domestic violence. Subsequently, activists have pushed SALW concerns higher
up the domestic violence agenda in Serbia. The variations in how UNSCR 1325 is utilised is a
consequence of the particular configuration of gender security, arising from personal-political
imaginations of conflict and post-conflict amongst activists.