@inbook{98bb42c941ad41aaad7371a4d18f859d,
title = "Strategic silences and epistemic resistance: Agency of women ex-combatants in 'post-war' space",
abstract = "Existing literature on the post-war agency of women combatants focuses on macro-level political and economic processes as measures of their agency in the post-war society. I try to present a more complicated and complete picture of women ex-combatants' experiences of post-war agency by including socio-cognitive process to understand their post-war experiences. After categorising the extant research into four categories - post-war as regression; structural forces shaping post-war regression; situated agency of women ex-combatants; and micro-politics of post-war - I introduce the concept of 'strategic silence'. This concept indicates the capacity of female ex-combatants to consciously stay silent and to highlight the collective gains and empowerment for women while sacrificing the self. Secondly, I introduce the concept of 'epistemic resistance' which captures their ability to resist dominant narratives of social transformation by the Maoists in Nepal. I focus specifically on narratives around marriage during the insurgency. I conducted 39 extensive interviews during my fieldwork in Nepal (2017-2018) involving female ex-combatants, their leaders (male and female) and experts. This chapter makes an important intervention in feminist security studies and feminist international relations through a specific focus on gender in post-war reconstruction and peacebuilding.",
keywords = "Agency and empowerment, Gender and war, Maoist insurgency in Nepal, Peacebuilding, Post-war agency, Women combatants",
author = "Keshab Giri",
year = "2023",
month = aug,
day = "2",
doi = "10.1108/978-1-80382-255-620231017",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781803822563",
series = "Emerald handbooks",
publisher = "Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.",
pages = "249--263",
editor = "Stacy Banwel and Lynsey Black and Cecil, {Dawn K.} and Djamba, {Yanyi K.} and Kimuna, {Sitawa R.} and Emma Milne and Lizzie Seal and Tenkorang, {Eric Y.}",
booktitle = "The Emerald international handbook of feminist perspectives on women's acts of violence",
address = "United Kingdom",
}