Despite 20 years of theorization on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, a critical review of the WPS literature points to a large, curious, and ignored epistemic gap regarding the post-Soviet space. In this exploratory article, I want to problematize this absence. While the gap can be partly attributed to the Anglophone hegemony in this literature, I suggest an alternative explanation: metageography and the “in-betweenness” of the post-Soviet region as an ambiguous space corresponding to neither the Global North nor the Global South. Drawing on insights from post-socialist feminist theories about the former “Second World,” I argue that the post-Soviet space has been erased from the WPS literature because – as elsewhere in the social sciences – the end of the Cold War rearranged the East/West geopolitical imaginaries into a Global North/Global South divide. Consequently, this epistemic gap creates an incomplete picture of the WPS agenda as a whole. I urge and challenge WPS scholars to pay attention to this region by developing the outline of a more holistic research agenda beyond the Global North/Global South binary.
Publications
Articles (peer-reviewed)
[1 article in revision]
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2024. "Narratifs stratégiques dans les espaces diplomatiques multilatéraux : regard sur les Débats ouverts du Conseil de Sécurité sur les Femmes, la Paix et la Sécurité" In Press, Études Internationales.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2023. “Neither the Global North nor the Global South: Locating the post-Soviet Space in/out of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda” International Feminist Journal of Politics, 1-24.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. “Beyond Feminist Heroines: Framing the Discourses on Kurdish Women Fighters in Three Types of Western Media” Feminist Media Studies, 1-17.
Book chapters in an edited volume (peer-reviewed)
[2 book chapters in revision]
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2024. “Loud and Uncomfortable Silences: Ukraine and the Challenges, Limits, and Possibilities of Western Feminist Foreign Policies” In Feminist Perspective on Russia’s War in Ukraine: Hear Our Voices, edited by Maryna Shevtsova. Rowman & Littlefield.
[Forthcoming, Fall 2024] Santoire, Bénédicte. “Diplomatie et politiques étrangères féministes.” In À bas le genre, à bas la guerre? Approches féministes de la guerre, des armées et du militarisme, edited by Vanessa Gauthier Vela, Éloïs Voisin and Angeliki Drongiti. Paris : Éditions La Dispute, Le Genre du Monde.
Book reviews and review essays
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. Book review of “Deploying Feminism: The Role of Gender in NATO Military Operations” by Stéfanie von Hlatky. International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. Review essay “Résolution 1325 et gouvernance globale : la diffusion de l’agenda Femmes, Paix et Sécurité (FPS) en tant que norme internationale” Études internationales 53(1), 121-136.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2021. Book review of “New Directions in Women, Peace and Security” edited by Soumita Basu, Paul Kirby, and Laura J. Shepherd. International Feminist Journal of Politics 23(5), 839-41.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2020. Book review of “Insurgent Women. Female Combatants in Civil Wars” by Jessica Trisko Darden, Alexis Henshaw and Ora Szekely. Recherches féministes 33(1), 303-306.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2020. Book review of “Gender Roles in Peace and Security – Prevent, Protect, Participate” edited by Manuela Scheuermann and Anja Zürn. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. 26(3), 368-370.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2019. Book review of “Armed Conflict, Women and Climate Change” by Jody M. Prescott. Canadian Journal of Political Science 53(1), 212-214.
Other publications (Policy sector, NGO, or other academic texts)
Santoire, Bénédicte, Katrina Leclerc et Beth Woroniuk (eds.) 2024. "Foundations for Peace in Turbulent Times: Analysis of Canada’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security" Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada (WPSN-C),52 pages.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2023. "My participation in Women, Peace and Security Week 2023: From cynicism to hope" Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada, 6 décembre 2023.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2023. “Myth-busting: Gender & demining” Mines Action Canada, 1 page.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2023. “Gender and Employment in Mine Action by the Numbers: An Update” Mines Action Canada, 9 pages.
Santoire, Bénédicte and Abir Sadellah. 2023. “Digitalizing Peacebuilding in the Europe and Central Asia Region – A Look at Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans” Istanbul: UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, 14 pages (Internal document).
Leclerc, Katrina, Bénédicte Santoire and Beth Woroniuk (eds.) 2023. “Fostering Feminist Peace at Home: Implications for CNAP 3” Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada (WPSN-C), 38 pages.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. “WPS National Action Plans: Lessons Learned and Best Practices” Concept note prepared for WPS-Dialogue-FPS between Canadian civil society and the Government for the third National Action Plan of Canada. Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada, May 2022.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. “Reacción antifeminista y politización de las normas globales de género: nota crítica sobre la agenda de Mujeres, Paz y Seguridad y la Convención de Estambul” Revista Lüvo, 9(1), 12-15.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2022. “A Feminist Reality-Check on the Ukraine Crisis.” Research Network on Women, Peace and Security (RN-WPS), February 14th, 2022.
Santoire, Bénédicte. 2021. “Pour une politique étrangère féministe cohérente” Centre for International Policy Studies, June 4th, 2021.
Hunt, Erin and Bénédicte Santoire. 2021. “Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security: Moving towards humanitarian disarmament.” In the report Reporting on Progress: Reflections on the Latest CNAP Report. Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada, September 2021, p. 23-25.