Creating a Gender-Inclusive Mining Industry: Uncovering the Challenges of Female Mining Stakeholders
Kansake, Bruno Ayaga, Georgette Barnes Sakyi-Addo, and Nelson Kofi Dumakor-Dupey. 2021. "Creating a Gender-Inclusive Mining Industry: Uncovering the Challenges of Female Mining Stakeholders." Resources Policy 70 (March). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101962.
Authors: Bruno Ayaga Kansake, Georgette Barnes Sakyi-Addo, Nelson Kofi Dumakor-Dupey
The global mining industry is male dominated. In the US, women constitute 13% of the mining workforce and 16% of mining related college programs. Similar trends exist globally. Efforts are being made by educational institutions, mining companies and professional organizations to attract women to the industry to achieve a gender inclusive industry. Such efforts have yielded minimal dividends partly due to insufficient reliable data on challenges confronting female miners. To provide empirical data to guide such efforts, we undertook a survey to understand the reasons for low female participation in the industry with participants from Ghana, USA, Ireland, Canada and other countries. The survey sought to identify challenges faced by female mining stakeholders and availability of support facilities for handling these challenges. Open and closed ended questionnaires were administered through online platforms. The responses were analyzed quantitatively using summary statistics and qualitatively using thematic analysis. About 38% of the respondents expressed satisfaction with their current jobs. The high dissatisfaction rate stems from lower salaries compared to male counterparts (29%), gender-based discrimination (53%), sexual harassment (37%) and sexual demands during hiring (17%). The key hindrances to a gender inclusive mining sector have been grouped into seven themes including discrimination, harassment, gender ideologies, and lack of support. We propose a four-way mind map model requiring commitment from government, companies, chambers of mines, and employees to ensure a gender inclusive mining industry.
Keywords: gender inclusion, diversity, mining industry, female stakeholders, discrimination, harassment
Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, North America, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Canada, Ghana, Ireland, United States of America
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Irish Women and Nationalism: Soldiers, New Women and Wicked Hags
Ryan, Louise, and Margaret Ward. 2019. Irish Women and Nationalism: Soldiers, New Women and Wicked Hags. Newbridge: Irish Academic Press.
Authors: Louise Ryan, Margaret Ward
Studies of Irish nationalism have been primarily historical in scope and overwhelmingly male in content. Too often, the 'shadow of the gunman' has dominated. Little recognition has been given to the part women have played, yet over the centuries they have undertaken a variety of roles – as combatants, prisoners, writers and politicians. In this important and influential collection the full range of women's contribution to the Irish nationalist movement is explored by writers whose interests range from the historical and sociological to the literary and cultural. From the little known contribution of women to the earliest nationalist uprisings of the 1600s and 1700s, to their active participation in the republican campaigns of the twentieth century, different chapters consider the changing contexts of female militancy and the challenge this has posed to masculine images and structures.
Using a wide range of sources, including textual analysis, archives and documents, newspapers and autobiographies, interviews and action research, individual writers examine sensitive and highly complex debates around women's role in situations of conflict.
Irish Women and Nationalism, first published in 2004 and now reissued with a new foreword by Marie Coleman, is a major contribution to wider feminist debates about the gendering of nationalism, raising questions about the extent to which women's rights, demands and concerns can ever be fully accommodated within nationalist movements. (Summary from Irish Academic Press)
Marie Coleman
Sinead McCoole
Louise Ryan and Margaret Ward
2. Testimonies to History: Reassessing Women's Involvement in the 1641 Rising
Andrea Knox
3. Revolution in Ireland, Evolution in Women's Rights: Irish Women in 1798 and 1848
Jan Cannavan
4. 'in the Line of Fire': Representations of Women and War (1919–1923) through the Writings of Republican Men
Louise Ryan
5. Constance Markievicz and the Politics of Memory
6. Representations and Attitudes of Republican Women in the Novels of Annie M. P. Smithson (1873–1948) and Rosamond Jacob (1888–1960)
Danae O'Regan
7. 'and behind Him a Wicked Hag Did Stalk': From Maiden to Mother, Ireland as Woman through the Male Psyche
Jayne Steel
8. 'We Had to Be Stronger': The Political Imprisonment of Women in Northern Ireland, 1972–1999
Mary Corcoran
9. Female Combatants, Paramilitary Prisoners and the Development of Feminism in the Republican Movement
Rhiannon Talbot
10. Narratives of Political Activism from Women in West Belfast
Claire Hackett
11. the Emergence of a Gender Consciousness: Women and Community Work in West Belfast
Callie Persic
12. Times of Transition: Republican Women, Feminism
Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Nationalism, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Ireland
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Labour Force Participation of Women: Empirical Evidence on the Role of Policy and other Determinants in OCED Countries
Jaumotte, Florence. 2003. "Labour Force Participation of Women: Empirical Evidence on the Role of Policy and other Determinants in OCED Countries." OECD Economic Studies 2 (37): 51- 108.
Author: Florence Jaumotte
"Female labour force participation has increased strongly in most OECD countries over the last few decades (Figure 1). The timing of the increase has varied across countries, with some countries starting earlier (e.g. the Nordics and the United States), and in the last two decades the largest increases have been observed in lower income countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) as well as in some northern European countries (Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). However, large cross-country differences in the levels of female participation persist. Focusing on prime-age women (aged 25-54), their participation rate ranges from values close to or below 60 per cent in Turkey, Korea, Mexico, and southern European countries (with the exception of Portugal) to values well above 80 per cent in the Nordic countries and some eastern European countries. Female labour force participation is the most important factor in explaining increases in aggregate participation rates as well as the current cross-country variation of aggregate participation rates…
"This paper assesses the role of various factors in determining the pattern of female participation rates in OECD countries. The main focus of the policy analysis is on married women with children, for whom actual participation is well below preferences. A number of policy instruments are included in the analysis, such as the tax treatment of second earners (relative to single individuals), childcare subsidies, child benefits, paid parental leave, and tax incentives to share market work between spouses. The role of other determinants, such as female education and labour market conditions, is also considered. The originality of the econometric study lies in the broad country coverage (17 OECD countries over the period 1985- 1999), in contrast with the single-country focus of most studies. OECD countries present a wide range of policies and experiences in the area of female participation, thereby providing a valuable source of information on the relative effectiveness of various policies. The analysis is based on macroeconomic data which allows estimating the aggregate impact of policy instruments rather than the responsiveness of individuals to microeconomic incentives. One other advantage of the use of macro- economic data is that the estimated coefficients incorporate to some extent general equilibrium effects (at least those on women themselves)" (Jaumotte 2003, 52-3).
Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women, Livelihoods Countries: Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United States of America
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Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland
Doorley, Karina. 2018. "Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland." Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry of Ireland 47: 71-87.
Author: Karina Doorley
In most developed countries, economies are facing population ageing, falling fertility rates and stagnating labour force participation. The ability of governments to fund future pension and health-care expenditure relies to a large extent on income tax and social security receipts from workers. Policymakers are generally in agreement that increasing the labour force participation of women, without reducing the fertility rate, is needed. In the year 2000, with the aim of increasing women's labour market participation, a partial individualisation of the Irish income tax system was initiated. Using the Living in Ireland survey and a difference-in-differences framework, I investigate whether this reform had any effect on female labour supply and caring duties. I find that the labour force participation rate of married women increased by 5-6 percentage points in the wake of the reform, hours of work increased by two per week and hours of unpaid childcare decreased by approximately the same margin.
Keywords: individual taxation, Ireland, labour supply
Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland
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Duped: Examining Gender Stereotypes in Disengagement and Deradicalization Practices
Schmidt, Rachel. 2020. "Duped: Examining Gender Stereotypes in Disengagement and Deradicalization Practices." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2020.1711586.
Author: Rachel Schmidt
In narratives around insurgencies, terrorism, and other forms of political violence, the media—and policymakers—frequently portray women as victims or unintelligent pawns of men. But these violent women get more media attention than their male counterparts because they are a shocking departure from gendered expectations of nurturing, peaceful women. However, even such narratives of deviance can reinforce societal stereotypes about women by emphasizing that they are emotional but not political, easily manipulated, often deranged, or simply unintelligent. Using in-depth interviews in Ireland and the United Kingdom with practitioners in counter terrorism (CT) and countering violent extremism (CVE), this paper argues that a failure to ask meaningful questions about women's roles in extremist violence has reinforced gender stereotypes, leading to disengagement and deradicalization practices that ignore or downplay women's importance in fostering violence.
Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Media, Post-Conflict, Terrorism, Violence Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland, United Kingdom
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Leading the Operationalisation of WPS
Hutchinson, Susan. 2018. "Leading the Operationalisation of WPS." Security Challenges 14 (2): 124-43.
Author: Susan Hutchinson
"This paper considers how an intervening security force can implement the relevant components of the suite of United Nations Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). The analytical framework of the paper is a generic operational cycle comprised of preplanning, planning, conduct, and transition. Specific tasks identified in the resolutions are organised in this generic operational cycle. The tasks are those commonly led by security forces, or directed by government, and include: conflict analysis or intelligence; deliberate planning; force structure; population protection; female engagement; support to the rule of law; security sector reform; and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. This paper focuses on the experiences of the Australian Defence Force, with additional examples from militaries of Canada, Ireland, Sweden and the United States as well as organisational experiences from NATO and the United Nations. The paper draws on operations including, but not limited to, in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Yugoslavia and East Timor. Overall, the paper makes a unique contribution to the military operationalisation of the WPS agenda" (Hutchinson 2018, 124).
Topics: Armed Conflict, DDR, Gender, Women, Governance, International Organizations, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, Security Sector Reform, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Americas, North America, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Balkans, Nordic states, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Oceania Countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Rwanda, Sweden, Timor-Leste, United States of America, Yugoslavia (former)
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Conflict-Related Violence against Women
Swaine, Aisling. 2018. Conflict-Related Violence against Women. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author: Aisling Swaine
By comparatively assessing three conflict-affected jurisdictions (Liberia, Northern Ireland and Timor-Leste), Conflict-Related Violence against Women empirically and theoretically expands current understanding of the form and nature of conflict-time harms impacting women. The 'violences' that occur in conflict beyond strategic rape are first identified. Employing both a disaggregated and an aggregated approach, relations between forms of violence within and across each context's pre-, mid- and post-conflict phase are then assessed, identifying connections and distinctions in violence. Swaine highlights a wider spectrum of conflict-related violence against women than is currently acknowledged. She identifies a range of forces that simultaneously push open and close down spaces for addressing violence against women through post-conflict transitional justice. The book proposes that in the aftermath of conflict, a transformation rather than a transition is required if justice is to play a role in preventing gendered violence before conflict and its appearance during and after conflict.
Part I: Introduction
Part II: Approaches to Understanding Conflict-Related Violence against Women
2. Historic Prevalence Verses Contemporary Celebrity: Sexing Dichotomies in Today's Wars
3. Who Wins the Worst Violence Contest? Armed Conflict and Violence in Northern Ireland, Liberia, and Timor-Leste
Part III: Violence against Women Before, During, and After Conflict
4. Beyond Strategic Rape: Expanding Conflict-Related Violence Against Women
5. Connections and Distinctions: Ambulant Violence Across Pre-, During-, and Post-Conflict Contexts
6. Seeing Violence in the Aftermath: What's Labeling Got to Do with It?
Part IV: Justice, Transition, and Transformation
7. Transitions and Violence After Conflict: Transitional Justice
8. Conclusion: Transforming Transition
Topics: Armed Conflict, Conflict, Gender, Women, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa, Europe, Western Europe, Oceania Countries: Ireland, Liberia, Timor-Leste
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Female Combatants after Armed Struggle: Lost in Transition?
Gilmartin, Niall. 2019. Female Combatants after Armed Struggle: Lost in Transition? New York: Routledge.
Author: Niall Gilmartin
This book stems from a simple 'feminist curiosity' that can be succinctly summed up into a single question: what happens to combatant women after the war? Based on in-depth interviews with forty research participants, mostly former combatants within the Irish Republican Army (IRA), this book offers a critical exploration of republican women and conflict transition in the North of Ireland.
Drawing on the feminist theory of a continuum of violence, this book finds that the dichotomous separation of war and peace within conventional approaches represents a gendered fiction. Despite undertaking war-time roles that were empowering, agentic, and subversive, this book finds that the 'post-conflict moment' as experienced by female combatants represents not peace and security, but a continuity of gender discrimination, violence, injustice and insecurity. The experiences and perspectives contained in this book challenge the discursive deployment of terms such as post-conflict, peace, and security, and moreover, shed light on the many forms of post-war activism undertaken by combatant women in pursuit of peace, equality and security.
The book represents an important intervention in the field of gender, political violence, and peace and more specifically, female combatants and conflict transition. It is analytically significant in its exploration of the ways in which gender operates within non-state military movements emerging from conflict and will be of interest to students and scholars alike. (Summary from Routledge)
2. Who Fought the War? The Gendered Constructions of Soldiering Roles in Post-war Commemorative Processes
3. Gendering the Post-conflict Narrative
4. From the Front Lines of War to the Sidelines of Peace? Rebuplican Women and the Irish Peace Process
5. Beyond Regression: Change and Continuity in Post-war Activism
Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Female Combatants, Feminisms, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Peace and Security, Post-Conflict, Peacekeeping, Violence Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland
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Care as Everyday Peacebuilding
Vaittinen, Tiina, Amanda Donahoe, Rahel Kunz, Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, and Sanam Roohi. 2019. "Care as Everyday Peacebuilding." Peacebuilding 7 (2): 194–209.
Authors: Tiina Vaittinen, Amanda Donahoe, Rahel Kunz, Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, Sanam Roohi
Analyses of everyday peace provide a critical response to existing peace practices. However, absent from these discussions is the feminist research that theorizes peace through everyday practices of care. We argue that contemporary debates on everyday peace should engage with this largely forgotten tradition. We explore the contributions of this research through case studies that span the north-south divide: from Northern Ireland to Aceh, and Kashmir to Reykjavik. Demonstrating how care is an essential ingredient of everyday peace, we suggest that a care lens allows us to reframe the understanding of everyday peace to provide a fuller picture that also addresses the complex and contradictory nature of social relations involved in everyday peacebuilding. By resolving conflicts over immediate care needs and building the capacity of communities in ways that subtly challenge the fixity of conflict, care cumulatively creates possibilities for peaceful transformation.
Keywords: care, everyday peace, trust, social transformation, feminist peace research
Topics: Conflict, Economies, Care Economies, Feminisms, Peacebuilding Regions: Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland
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Education and the Humanitarian Space: is there a Dissonance between Military Education and Military Practice?
Connors, Niall. 2019. "Education and the Humanitarian Space: Is There a Dissonance between Military Education and Military Practice?" Irish Studies in International Affairs 30: 171-93.
Author: Niall Connors
Crossing the domains of foreign policy, defence policy and gender theory, this paper focuses on education and the humanitarian space, specifically, an analysis of whether there is a dissonance between military education and military practice in an Irish context. The paper argues that Irish Defence Forces' activity as peacekeepers can be framed within the human security paradigm, aligned with a national perception of self as good global citizens, and can reasonably be characterised as humanitarian. In this context, the paper argues that the human security paradigm offers a cosmopolitan, agency-oriented, feminist perspective on the humanitarian space and should prompt a re-examination of the gendered nature of the concepts of peace, peacekeeping and 'citizenship in practice'. The paper concludes positing that a theory-practice gap exists between military education and military practice in an Irish context, and suggests a re-orientation of military education programmes to include a more feminist, cosmopolitan perspective.
Keywords: human security, peacekeeping forces, masculinity, feminism, environmental security, defense policy, military operations, men, military alliances
Topics: Citizenship, Feminisms, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacekeeping, Security, Human Security Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland
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