Identity in Transition: Concept, Context, and Complexity

Why is it important to look at the interconnection of identity categories in processes of social change? And how do the making and change of gender, ethnic, and other identity categories intersect during periods of conflict and conflict settlement? Setting the conceptual framework, this chapter addresses existing gaps in the study of ethno-national conflict and conflict settlement. It does so by highlighting the need to explore the making and change of intersecting identity categories during these processes. Women’s experiences are largely written out of official narratives of ethno-national conflicts to protect the “manliness” of armed conflict based on a hegemonic (heterosexual) masculinity (Cohn, 2013, p. 23). Feminist research has highlighted that this exclusion prevents conflict societies from being transformed into peaceful ones (Cohn, 2013; Enloe, 2002; Kronsell & Svedberg, 2012).