Jenna Sapiano | University of Notre Dame (original) (raw)

Papers by Jenna Sapiano

Social Science Research Network, 2024

Griffith law review, Jul 2, 2020

ABSTRACT The assumption that peace mediation is gender-neutral reproduces and reinforces the alre... more ABSTRACT The assumption that peace mediation is gender-neutral reproduces and reinforces the already gendered aftermath(s) of war. Peace mediation is a multilayered conflict resolution mechanism that ranges from grassroots peacebuilding to high-level diplomacy. As a ‘language of peace’, international law has become foundational in high-level peace mediation processes and institutions. International legal feminist and queer theory are critical of international law for its gendered and heteronormative frameworks that reinforce the binaries of war/peace, masculine/feminine or heterosexual/homosexual. Global governance gender law reforms, such as the Women, Peace and Security agenda, are part of the institutional frameworks that guide peace mediation processes. High-level peace mediators are also members of an ‘epistemic community’ regulated by international and regional organisations. The article analyses how masculine and heteronormative international legal institutions and experts shape peace mediation’s already gendered processes and outcomes. The article concludes that contemporary peace mediation approaches must be rethought and that alternatives to the traditional peace table must be imagined.

African Affairs, Sep 8, 2010

Social Science Research Network, Oct 10, 2016

European Journal of Politics and Gender, 2022

The data set includes 1083 Supreme Court of Canada(SCC) decisions issued between 1984-2018 that i... more The data set includes 1083 Supreme Court of Canada(SCC) decisions issued between 1984-2018 that include any reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] and/or the Constitution Act, s. 35. The researchers coded the variables, including any information provided on lower court/administrative tribunal decisions, from reviewing the SCC decisions. The primary aim of the data set is to record the names of the SCC justices who participated in the decision in the majority, concurring or dissenting opinion, and the proportionality analysis or justificatory analysis adopted in that case. The objective of the data set is to provide a pragmatic basis to analyse the shaping of the proportionality doctrine and justificatory analysis in SCC jurisprudence by the Dickson, Lamar and McLachlin courts.

he constitution is gendered and has been for centuries. Male voices and masculine notions of rati... more he constitution is gendered and has been for centuries. Male voices and masculine notions of rationality that date from the Enlightenment set the intellectual origins of modern Western constitutions. A discursive narrative of the rationality of ‘the people’, mainly understood to be male and white, was the basis for the philosophies that gave rise to the current understanding of constitutionalism. Power, at that moment in time, was also vested in men, and constitutional law, in its domestic variety, being gendered, gives priority to the place of men. Likewise, the international is also often a site of the masculine that often denies women (but also many others) access to avenues of political agency. The language of international politics, be it about security or diplomacy, is often masculine, where strength and superiority are valued over cooperation and equality. Empirically, women are often not present at the international level, where men continue to dominate politically and profe...

Members from the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre have offered their analysis on a range ... more Members from the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre have offered their analysis on a range of topics included in Australia's second National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. Topics include: Feminist credentials in the new NAP Australia, monitoring and evaluation, women's participation in peace processes, sexual and gender-based violence in fragile and conflict-affected settings, countering and preventing violent extremism, inclusive economies, climate change, humanitarian action, stabilisation and disaster management, health emergencies, young women, and children.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

In the context of a difficult transition from war to peace, arrangements aimed at achieving peace... more In the context of a difficult transition from war to peace, arrangements aimed at achieving peace (such as power-sharing, including autonomy) may come into tension with human rights (such as non-discrimination or indigenous rights). When this happens, peace and human rights are often unhelpfully characterized as binary or even mutually exclusive. The aim of this chapter is to query this binary characterisation, using three case studies where a particular tension was contested before a court: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines and El Salvador. The chapter shows that since neither peace nor (most) human rights are absolute, it is possible to weigh the two against each other; and the tension can be framed in a way that is more conducive to its resolution, by conceptualising peace as a fundamental public purpose, a legitimate aim, and/or a human right, thus internalising it in human rights reasoning, rather than treating it as external.

Global Constitutionalism, 2017

: The current debate measuring the trade-offs between democracy and judicial review is unable to ... more : The current debate measuring the trade-offs between democracy and judicial review is unable to analyse the influence of courts in post-conflict states. However, a court with authority over constitutional review is commonplace in new constitutions, including those that have been drafted (or revised) as part of a political settlement. This article suggests that judicial institutions are as important as political institutions in sustaining a political settlement. As this article sets out, the parties to a peace process are required to make numerous compromises to negotiate new (or revised) institutional arrangements. Several cases are considered which illustrate how domestic constitutional courts were asked to mediate between tensions inside the political settlement. In all of the examples, the courts interpreted peace to be the most important constitutional value, or the primary purpose of the constitution. The judiciary played a role in maintaining the constitutional link to the elite pacts of the peace agreement, while acknowledging that the link should not preserve elite pacts permanently or without limit. The article argues, first, that these cases constitute evidence of an emergent global ‘peace jurisprudence’ based on purposive interpretation and a principle of proportionality that protects the foundations of the political settlement, and, second, questions the extent to which international courts are willing or able to adopt this jurisprudence.

International Negotiation

Peace mediation is a professional practice that is increasingly reliant on thematic technical exp... more Peace mediation is a professional practice that is increasingly reliant on thematic technical experts, including gender experts. The strategy of including gender expertise in peace mediation reflects the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the call to include dedicated gender expertise in all peacemaking efforts. Based on interviews with peace mediation practitioners, the article analyzes the role of gender experts in peace mediation. We argue that there is a tension between the art of mediation and the art of gender expertise that reflects the gendered power dynamics of peace mediation. We conclude that the strategy of appointing gender experts to peace mediation teams will not “dismantle the master’s house.” However, we acknowledge that without a gender expert very little will be accomplished on this issue. For peace mediation to address the gendered foundations of conflict we argue for the development of an alternate feminist peace mediation practice.

In this guest post, Asli Ozcelik and Jenna Sapiano examine the peace process in the Philippines t... more In this guest post, Asli Ozcelik and Jenna Sapiano examine the peace process in the Philippines through a constitutional perspective, drawing on their presentations at this year’s ICON-S conference at the University of Hong Kong. Jenna Sapiano, visiting research fellow at iCourts and Asli Ozcelik, doctoral candidate at the University of Glasgow, organised a panel, supported by the PSRP, on ‘Re-thinking peace and constitution-making’. The panel was chaired by Prof Vicki Jackson and Prof Christie S. Warren.