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Women’s Peace Activism and the Construction of Motherhood in North Macedonia

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Constructing Motherhood Identity Against Political Violence

Part of the book series: Contributions to International Relations ((CIR))

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Abstract

The reporting of the wars in the former Yugoslavia tends to represent women and mothers predominately as victims of male violence. However, it is well documented in feminist literature that women’s groups across the republics have played a critical role in organising peace protests, building bridges across contested ethnic lines and exercising agency. Even though North Macedonia proclaimed independence without engaging in the Yugoslav wars, it experienced an ethnic conflict in 2001. There is limited knowledge on the impact the conflict had on women and on their contributions to the peace efforts. The aim of this chapter is to explore women’s experiences of peace activism and how it is linked to their constructions of motherhood. The chapter is based on empirical research with 24 leaders from women’s non-governmental organisations located in three ethnically diverse cities in North Macedonia. The research adopted feminist research methodology, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group meetings. The findings demonstrated that the common experiences of being women faced with similar structural obstacles and being mothers concerned for the safety and future of their children helped the participants in this research overcome vast political differences and collaborate across ethnic lines. Also, some of them strategically drew links between their identity as women and potentially mothers to have their voices heard and gain legitimacy and recognition within broader peacebuilding efforts. Women relied on their experience and constructions of motherhood to protest against violent actors and to demand social change. However, this paper also cautions against the use of gender essentialism which might de-politicise their efforts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Elena Spasovska

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  1. Elena Spasovska
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Correspondence to Elena Spasovska .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Üsküdar University, Üsküdar, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Deniz Ülke Arıboğan

  2. School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK

    Hamoon Khelghat-Doost

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Spasovska, E. (2023). Women’s Peace Activism and the Construction of Motherhood in North Macedonia. In: Arıboğan, D.Ü., Khelghat-Doost, H. (eds) Constructing Motherhood Identity Against Political Violence. Contributions to International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36538-6_10

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