Visions of an activist community and practical realities: gender politics within the peace and environment movements

Abstract

This thesis analyses twelve Pakeha women's accounts of their experiences within sixty-two mixed-gender peace and environment groups. Sociological studies of social movements have tended to assume that all activists are equal participants. In contrast, this thesis argues that all groups are structured by informal hierarchies which allow some individuals exercise more influence over decision-making that others. As a feminist piece of research, this thesis focuses on the relationship of gender to group structure. The experiences of my respondents suggest that hierarchies are not 'gender-neutral', but rather that men tend to dominate formal and/or strong informal hierarchies. My respondents felt that women's positions were most equal within 'structureless' groups with weak informal hierarchies and a low degree of specialisation. The disparate positions of men and women within many peace and environment groups mean that men are often able to dominate prestigious roles within the movements and enforce their own definitions of 'serious' peace and environmental issues: the latter of which has significance far beyond individual groups. In order to challenge male-dominated hierarchies, it is important to understand how such hierarchies are established, maintained and perpetuated. Rather than simply assuming that men are automatically able to transfer power from one sphere of social life to the next, my thesis suggests that the achievement of such hierarchies is largely an active endeavour as men 'do' power in everyday interaction. Hierarchies are established via mechanisms such as existing friendship networks, conversational dominance and gendered conceptions of 'expertise' and 'ability', and then reinforced through the active discouragement of feminist criticism and the restriction of knowledge to hand-picked elites. The severe contrasts between many respondents' experiences within mixed-gender and women-only peace and environment groups raise questions about the future of women's participation within mixed-gender groups, particularly those groups with formal and strong informal hierarchies.