Intersectionality and women's participation in peace negotiations.

This article critically examines the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda’s calls for increased women’s participation in peace negotiations, highlighting how persistent assumptions and narrow narratives about women’s identities limit their agency and contributions. Drawing on twenty-nine interviews with peace practitioners and informed by intersectionality—originally conceptualized by Black feminists to address overlapping systems of oppression—the authors argue that treating women as a homogeneous group overlooks the complex, co-constituting identities shaped by race, class, colonial histories, and other factors. The article emphasizes that inclusion efforts often rely on counting women or expecting them to represent all women’s interests, which can reinforce existing power hierarchies and marginalize diverse voices. It advocates for an intersectional and decolonial feminist approach to better understand and support women’s multifaceted roles in peace processes, moving beyond essentialist assumptions toward more transformative and inclusive practices.