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About Elisabeth Porter

Elisabeth Porter is INCORE Research Director. INCORE (international conflict research) is a joint University of Ulster, United Nations University centre for peace and conflict studies. Her books include Peace-building: Women in International Perspectives (2006, forthcoming), Feminist Perspectives on Ethics (1999), Building Good Families in a Changing World (1995) and Women and Moral Identity (1991). She has published extensively on women, diversity and feminist theory.

Articles by Elisabeth Porter

Tuesday 18th October

Women and security: 'You cannot dance if you cannot stand'

Elisabeth Porter, 18 October 2005

Can women make a difference to peace and security?

Yes, if the rhetoric about including women is translated into reality. Before suggesting how, I must make three qualifications. First, I am Australian and have worked in Northern Ireland during 1990, from 1994-1999 and since 2004. Personally, it is not possible to live in a divided society that is inherently violent and where patriarchal attitudes and values pervade everyday living (despite progressive equality legislation) without feeling committed to working toward change. Yet in a place where identity markers define both exclusion and inclusion, it is not easy to work as an ‘inside-outsider’, living in the culture, aware of its limitations and possibilities, yet always being conscious of being different in a culture where diversity is not yet celebrated.