Social Identity-Based Threats to Human Security: Gender Practice in Sustainable Development and Conflict Transformation

Authors

Emma W. Buck, SIT Graduate InstituteFollow

Degree Name

MA in Conflict Transformation

First Advisor

Tatsushi Arai

Abstract

I seek to advocate for practitioners in conflict transformation and/or sustainable development to build awareness around the peoples who, according to the status afforded them by their identities within a social context, experience threats to their own sense of human security within situations of violent conflict and/or underdevelopment. This capstone does so by examining gender -- that is, the context-specific distinctions between men and women-- as a social context that influences an individual’s feelings of human security. The capstone then expands a practitioner’s means of addressing gender-based threats to human security in situ. I will first define and situate human security, which describes the working concept of being free from fear and from want, and then will shift focus to social identity as a determinant of human security. As an example, the capstone will use gender contexts, defining the scope and outlining the history of gender practice in the fields of conflict transformation and sustainable development. Using the “Gender Continuum Tool,” this capstone will explore the positive and negative incentives for performing gender practice, relating such reasons back to human security. It will then explore some practical implications for gender practice, relating to examples from my practicum experience at an international development consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Last, the capstone will re-situate the implications of gender practice back into consideration for social identities and social contexts as they relate to human security. Altogether, the considerations in this capstone can help practitioners in conflict transformation and sustainable development take into account those who suffer the deepest threats to human security, thus furthering practice that is effective, self-reflexive, sensitive, and human-focused.

Disciplines

Community-Based Research | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Growth and Development | Inequality and Stratification | Peace and Conflict Studies | Politics and Social Change | Sustainability

Recommended Citation

Buck, Emma W., "Social Identity-Based Threats to Human Security: Gender Practice in Sustainable Development and Conflict Transformation" (2015). Capstone Collection. 2757.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/capstones/2757