Motherwork and gender justice in Peace Huts: a feminist view from Liberia

Abstract

At the end of their country’s 14-year civil war (1989–2003), Liberian women established Peace Huts to provide conflict resolution and mediation services to disputing community members. Peace Huts are modeled on the centuries-old Palava Hut system used to address disputes, but the latter are largely run by men. This article examines how Liberian women have adopted the Palava Hut system to suit their needs in the interest of advancing transitional justice. We document and analyse what women do at Peace Hut sites and how their pursuit of peace and gender justice is related to motherwork, understood in feminist scholarship as the exercise of political agency through maternal activism. Based on a year-long study with women who provide social labour in Peace Huts, this article seeks to provide insight into how women participate in post-conflict initiatives amid infrastructural challenges, structural violence and tensions between the best legal approaches to gender justice and human rights.

Keywords:

• Peace Huts
• motherwork
• Liberian women
• social reproduction
• transitional justice

Acknowledgments

Our sincere thanks to all of the participants in the study and the Women in Peace Network (WIPNET) who generously shared their time and expertise. Special thanks to our research assistants Cerue Garlo, Ola Osman, Rebecca Howard, Esther Mousa and Florence Anfaara. Our sincere gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and to Drs Kim Verwaayen and Tamari Kitossa, who read drafts of the paper and provided insightful feedback that pushed us to think more deeply about our arguments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) under Grant 435-2017-1487.

Notes on contributors

Erica S. Lawson

Erica S. Lawson teaches in the areas of feminist and critical race theories and motherhood studies. Her research focuses on the politics and practices of maternal activism. Her recent SSHRC-funded research project examines how women in Liberia utilise Peace Huts to advance gender equality and assist victims of sexual gender-based violence to access the legal system. Her recent publications include “Bereaved Black Mothers and Maternal Activism in the Racial State,” Feminist Studies 44, no. 3 (2018): 713–735.

Vaiba K. Flomo

Vaiba K. Flomo is a social and political activist and trauma counselor who played a significant role in ending Liberia’s 14-year civil war, and who continues to work for peace, justice and security. Ms Flomo has worked for the Lutheran Church in Liberia, focused on the Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program to assist ex-combatant youth to re-enter society.