Dr Farkhondeh Akbari1, Professor Jacqui True1
1Monash University, Clayton, Australia
Biography:
Dr. Farkhondeh Akbari is a Research Fellow at Monash University, where she conducts research on inclusive peace, non-state armed actors’ diplomacy, feminist foreign policy, and the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. She received her PhD in diplomatic studies from the Australian National University. Her thesis examined the required characteristics for non-state armed actors to negotiate peace settlements, focusing on the cases of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. She has published journal articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces, and has a forthcoming book on Women, Peace, and Security in Afghanistan (2025).
Professor Jacqui True, FASSA, FAIIA is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW). She is also a Global Fellow, Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Oslo and received her PhD from York University, Toronto, Canada, and an honorary doctorate from Lund University Sweden in 2018. Previously she was Founding Director of Monash University’s Centre for Gender, Peace and Security. She has held academic positions at Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Auckland as well as visiting fellowships at the Australian National University and Gothenburg University, Sweden.
Her current research is focused on the Women, Peace and Security agenda: Understanding the political economy of violence against women, sexual and gender-based violence in conflict in Asia Pacific; and the gender dimensions of violent extremism and conflict.
Abstract:
The paper develops a feminist pragmatist approach that seeks to promote the voice and agency of marginalised actors in international politics. The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has emerged over the past decades as a transnational community of practice that aims to support women’s peacebuilding and to elevate their agency in powerful national and international forums tasked with resolving armed conflict and violence. This WPS community of practice is committed to gender justice, inclusive deliberation, and holding institutions and elites accountable to those most affected by conflict and violence but frequently excluded from decision-making about them. Our paper presents the case of Afghanistan since the United States (US) withdrawal and Taliban takeover as a real-world test case for the WPS community of practice. It explores the norm conflict regarding human rights and gender equality and responses to it (both contesting and validating norms) that have emerged during Taliban 2.0 governance since August 2021. The chapter shows that the strategy of constructive engagement with the Taliban has not worked to resolve the conflict and/or improve the humanitarian situation for the people of Afghanistan. It argues for a feminist pragmatist approach to navigating norm conflict through local and international communities of practice committed to women’s security and rights.