Browsing by Subject "Middle East"
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(2023)The humanitarian crisis caused by the Syrian civil war has resulted in millions becoming refugees, most of whom are women and girls. Out of all countries, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita. Lebanese policies have been generally marked by state absenteeism and the exclusion of Syrians. The policies together with the economic crisis in Lebanon have resulted in most of the refugees living in the country informally and in dire socioeconomic situation. The objective of this thesis is to look at gender-based violence against Syrian refugee women and girls in Lebanon through a feminist political economy framework. This is done through analyzing interviews conducted with Lebanese experts and triangulating the data with existing academic and non-academic research. The Lebanese exclusionary policies, the political economy of the country, and the patriarchal structures expose Syrian women to socioeconomic violence and create a pool of people who are vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and unfree labour. Said factors also lead to resorting to negative coping strategies, such as survival sex, child marriage, and entering precarious work conditions. There is an interconnection of acceptance of violence, patriarchal norms, and institutional structures that all heighten the risk of IPV for Syrian refugee women. While women feel empowered by their access to resources through work, the risk of IPV grows as men are unable to fulfil their roles as the ideal masculine breadwinner and develop violent masculinities as an answer to marginalization. Syrian families, and sometimes girls themselves, resort to child marriage to seek protection and ease the financial constraints, which further keeps girls in the cycle of poverty and violence. Syrian women and girls face multiple forms of gender-based violence in Lebanon. The violence has a material basis which is accelerated by the socioeconomic situation and Lebanon's approach to the refugee crisis. The patriarchal structures that persist in the Syrian and Lebanese societies heighten women's vulnerability to violence and normalise it. The socioeconomic situation and the patriarchal values are upheld by the state policies and structures that fail to provide adequate protection to refugees and women, leading to marginalisation and giving space to actors, such as employers and landlords, who use the situation for their own benefit. Instead of looking at violence women and girls face as separate incidents, it is more useful to look at the continuums of violence that are present in the Syrian women and girls’ lives.
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Painting a Local Future : Re-Defining Peace Processes in the Context of the Ongoing Syrian Civil War (2018)In this study I look ahead into the immediate postwar future in Syria. The purpose of my study is to review political processes that could break the pattern of recurring violence and support long-term stabilization. It seems to me that peace processes and the international discussion surrounding them have become what could perhaps be called ‘pacifitized’ – too charged with assumptions and contest to yield substantial results. Actors and conflict parties spend more time on blaming each other than discussing tangible solutions. This has been too scarcely noted in previous conflict resolution literature. Postwar issues need to become the intrinsic focus of peace negotiations. To bring this development about, the discussion around peace needs to become less charged with antagonizing communication. I utilize a combination of several political theory approaches for this study. Power political decisions are suited by a realist view, whereas cooperative communal projects benefit of a liberal perspective. These approaches are supplemented with additions from poststructuralism and postcolonialism. The Syrian scene is a complex conflict matrix that cannot sufficiently be analyzed with one theory alone. I also review experience from previous sectarian conflicts to find cases the Syrian situation can be compared to. Past experiences from similar conflict structures can be revisited to avoid making the same miscalculations that were made before. Processes resulting in a positive outcome in one setting, combined with the knowledge on another specific local, can be adjusted and applied in a new context. Syria seems to again have become a proxy battle ground for great power interests. Regardless of where the power ultimately settles, the governing party will have a shortage on legitimacy. The Syrian political sphere needs to open up and adequate postwar stabilization efforts commence. Introduction of inclusive societal elements can further be one of the most effective ways to combat spoilers. The task of building an inclusive society and countering antagonization is arduous and costly. Funding for retribution and rebuilding could perhaps be collected into a global fund established for this cause. Changes will take time, and they need to take place on all societal levels. For the aim of ensuring local support, the peace process needs to be rooted in the local from the start. This will also limit the amount of issues that parties can use for objects of pacifitization. To summarize, the processes set into motion need to be ones that firstly, the local community agrees with and secondly, ones that can plausibly be considered to become self-sustainable in the future. This requires sturdy planning from trials to funding of the process, preferably already before an international intervention into the conflict is conducted. International support for peace processes will continuously be called for, but for the previously mentioned reasons, the local should be the uncontested focus of all peace processes.
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