Contextualization as a (Feminist) Method for Transnational Legal Practice

Abstract

Transitional justice and peacebuilding are expanding fields of global governance, which have attracted increasing interest from transnational legal practice and scholarship. Focusing on women’s rights promotion in post-conflict states, the chapter examines the United Nations ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda and its challenging implementation in Afghanistan. By identifying the hegemony of Western liberal thought within both peace and conflict studies and international human rights law as an obstacle to this implementation, the chapter explains how transnational legal practice could benefit from a greater engagement with feminist methodology and the significance it places on understanding ‘contexts.’ As such, the chapter sets out ‘contextualization’ as a method that could lead to more relevant and inclusive transnational legal practice and scholarship in such disciplines.

Keywords: transnational law, feminist legal theory, transnational feminism, transnational legal practice, transitional justice, peacebuilding, women, peace and security