by Christianna Gozzi

 “Take me out of the community and you’ve taken everything from me.”

-2011 Nobel Laureate, Leymah Gbowee.

The keynote address at the 25^th Annual International Association of Conflict Management conference this July in Stellenbosch, South Africa was delivered by 2011 Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee. Ms. Gbowee stressed to the audience, many of whom are basic researchers studying conflict and peace in the laboratory; to not forget about the human element of conflict resolution. Peace, she argues, is not delivered or sustained through a checklist, but rather achieved by a non-linear process of healing relationships, humanity and dignity. Despite Ms. Gbowee’s status as international advisor and hero, her edicts have not yet been accepted by institutions which still rely, in her opinion, too heavily on one size fits all diplomacy, institutions, faux inclusion and amnesty.

Is Ms. Gbowee’s perspective dismissed by peace institutions typically operated by members of high power groups because she represents a uniquely feminine way of thinking about conflict and negotiation?

Scholar-Practitioners Deborah Kolb and Gloria Coolidge might say yes. In the classic paper Her Place at the Table: A Consideration of Gender Issues in Negotiation, Kolb and Coolidge argue that women tend to frame and conduct negotiations in a way that is different than the dominant cultural framework of conflict resolution (e.g. separating the person from the problem or gaming aspects of negotiation). They argue that women tend to understand conflict resolution via “a) relational view of others, b) an embedded view of agency, c) an understanding of control through empowerment and d) problem solving through dialogue.”  These research findings resonate with Ms. Gbowee’s approach to achieving a sustained peace in her home country of Liberia.

Kolb and Coolidge posit that women are forced to adapt to a negotiation style that might feel unnatural to them at times. Thus, the female voice is either ignored or is diluted because many women struggle to navigate in these situations without feeling like large pieces of the puzzle are missing. Of course, this does not signify that all women will operate like this in conflict or that women are not able to adapt to different conflict situations, but rather calls into question the lack of balance between the relational elements of conflict resolution and political models of diplomacy and institution building.

The research community should further investigate why, despite calls for inclusion, the people most severely impacted by the conflict—including women and other marginalized groups, are being excluded from the reconstruction conversation.