Women’s Inclusion in the Malian Peace Negotiations: Norms and Practices

This article studies the implementation of the global norm of women’s inclusion in the Malian peace negotiations. It constructs a theoretical framework for analyzing practices of resistance, which object to the validity of the norm, and practices of refinement, which engage with
the application of the norm. Based on interviews with women who attended the Malian peace
negotiations it finds that women face widespread practices of resistance when they demand to be included. However, when pressure is applied concessions often follow, indicating growing
acceptance of the norm. Actors also engaged in practices of refinement, observed through a
number of disagreements over how, when and which women should be included. The article
contributes important insights on the relationship between norms and practices by demonstrating not only that norms influence practice, but how practices of resistance and refinement shape the meanings and life cycles of norms.