'Rescripting Security: Gender and Peacebuilding in South Asia'

Thursday 23 April, 2009

The David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies
Annual Lecture

‘Rescripting Security: Gender and Peacebuilding in South Asia'

The David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies at the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University is delighted to announce that Dr Meenakshi Gopinath will give this year's annual lecture.

Dr Gopinath is Principal of Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi and founder and current Director of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), which seeks to promote the leadership of South Asian women in the areas of peace, security, and regional cooperation.

The lecture on ‘Rescripting Security: Gender and Peacebuilding in South Asia' will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday 28th April at the Main Hall of the International Politics Building on the Penglais campus and is open to members of the public.

In the lecture Dr Gopinath will attempt to foreground some of the challenges and opportunities for peacebuilding in the South Asian region especially when seen through a gender lens. It reflects the quest for new meaning, new metaphors and an alternative vocabulary that could include the concerns of that half of the population, namely women, whose voices are not often heard in the meta narratives of national security. The talk will draw on the experience and research of WISCOMP, a South Asian initiative that is committed to facilitate the participation and leadership of women in conflict transformation and peacebuilding.


The Institute wishes to express its appreciation to the University of Wales for awarding the L.M. Singhvi Fellowship to Dr Gopinath to enable her to deliver this year’s annual lecture.   
 
Dr Meenakshi Gopinath
Principal of Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi and founder and current Director of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP).

Dr Gopinath is a member of multi-track peace initiatives in Kashmir and between India and Pakistan including the Neemrana Peace Initiative and the Pakistan India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy, and was the first woman to serve as member of the National Security Advisory Board of India. 

She has authored among other works Pakistan in Transition and co-authored Conflict Resolution - Trends and Prospects, Transcending Conflict: A Resource book on Conflict Transformation andDialogic Engagement. 

She has also written chapters and articles in books and journals on Gandhi, the politics of Pakistan, the art of Conflict Resolution, and gender and Peace Building. Her interests include issues of human rights and gender, conflict transformation and Buddhist and Gandhian philosophy.

The David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies
The David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies forms part of the internationally renowned Department of International Politics and was originally conceived as a vehicle for bringing the worlds of academia and international public policy together. 

Since it moved to Aberystwyth in 2002, it has combined this long-standing public education and outreach role with the development of cutting-edge research in the fields of international trust-building, nuclear non-proliferation, international legitimacy, and the responsibility to protect.