“Exploring the influence of everyday violence on female political activism: Insights from the 2023 protests and online political engagement”
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2024-04-05
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en
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Purpose: This thesis aims to enhance understanding of local female political activism in a conflict region, by employing an intersectional lens. The research highlights important differences in daily opportunities and barriers between women in Israel, to elucidate the overarching low levels of female political participation. This could provide practical and theoretical insights on the use of intersectionality as a tool for inclusion in conflict solving processes.
Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this goal, a qualitative research design, that enables a holistic understanding of livelihood, activism, and intersectional identity, is used. The fieldwork and interviews helped to define what intersectionality comes down to in Israel to recognize how intersectional identity influences local women’s experience with indirect and direct violence and political activism. The analysis involved examining the interrelations among these concepts within the case study and in the context of previous efforts that were used for more inclusive in peacebuilding.
Findings: This research shows the significant impact of violence, (hidden) in everyday practices, on the livelihood of women who live in the militarized and polarized society of Israel. The case study revealed crucial distinctions and intricate nuances in the experience of direct and indirect violence at the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and gender. Observations illustrate a persistent trend of an inward focus among ethnic and religious groups that endure the most violence in everyday life, not willing or able to engage in online political activism or to participate in protests. At the intersection of Muslim religion and an Arab ethnicity, women endured the most structural and direct violence and by which their resilience cultivated a necessary ‘silence’ to survive everyday life.
Relevance: The research can contribute to existing literature on livelihoods and how they influence political opportunities for activism in conflict regions with a qualitative in-depth up to date case description of women’s violent livelihood and political activism. Moreover, the study demonstrates that employing an intersectional approach alongside an examination of livelihood offers a domestic perspective that has been absent in previous diversity research and illustrates the importance of nuance in local identity dynamics within a polarized society.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen