Gendering Normative Power Europe in practice: A study of the European Union’s implementation of the Women, Peace and Security-agenda

Abstract: UNSCR 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security agenda has been in place since year 2000, yet women’s participation in conflict resolution processes remains low and they are still largely being excluded from deciding how their future society is going to look like. The European Union is known for being a normative actor in international politics, with gender equality being one of their core norms. As they take a larger role in conflict resolution processes, it is interesting to study if they manage to decrease gender blindness in these processes and help speed up progress in the implementation of 1325. This study applies the theory of Gendering Normative Power Europe on a qualitative case study of the EU’s facilitation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which is a case where the EU both have an interest in diffusing their core norms as well as it is a conflict resolution process where 1325 need to be implemented. The results show that, while they are not completely failing, the EU is not as strong an actor as would be expected in the implementation of the WPS-agenda.