Description
The success, or failure, of gender mainstreaming initiatives is often contingent on the expertise and resources available, and the professional networks in which experts are embedded. This paper develops a theoretical and methodological framework for mixing career life-history testimonies and Social Network Analysis to understand what professional networks are forged by gender experts working in international peace and security. The methodology opens way for an exploration of how professional experiences and backgrounds (such as education or prior work experience) matter alongside intersectional concerns (including race, ethnicity, class, disability). The paper unpacks how making sense of these connections sheds valuable light on how networks are created, fostered and sustained, and, crucially, how these networks shape gender expertise work in international peace and security. The empirical focus for discussion in this paper will be gender experts who have worked for the UN System in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Hergenovia and Croatia since 1999.
