Culture and conflict

The Culture and Conflict project was part of the Transformation and Empowerment workstream and was led by Dr Neelam Raina.

This research investigates the value of culture to women in conflict settings. It explores gendered economic exclusion and its relationship to peacebuilding, economic agency and empowerment. It uses a cultural mapping methodology to explore how communities of women across different conflict contexts rely on coded and tacit knowledge to rebuild their lives and to understand how cultural practices continue to exist and resist in these challenging contexts.

103 women were involved in the project, across eight research sites in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The research investigates the value of culture to women in conflict settings. It explores gendered economic exclusion and its relationship to peacebuilding, economic agency and empowerment. It uses a cultural mapping methodology to explore how communities of women across different conflict contexts rely on coded and tacit knowledge to rebuild their lives and to understand how cultural practices continue to exist and resist in these challenging contexts.

Participatory action research allowed those most impacted to lead in framing questions and determining which actions will be useful in effecting positive change.

Through photography, colour theory training, pattern making and other craft making training sessions, the women expanded and developed cultural and economic skills in craft. During the process, the women engaged in conversations about issues of identity and how intersectionality influences the everyday. They spoke about their culture, peace and conflict with singing, myth and legend story exchange. Love and romance are part of the dialogue while the women work on their textiles. Slightly tougher discussions about community relationships and everyday discrimination were also documented.

The crafts produced by the women have been shared widely in art exhibitions and through ongoing sales of their art and crafts in markets across the UK.

While the Women Peace and Security agenda acknowledges the importance of economic empowerment, agency and sustainability it fails to adequately emphasise how such work can and often does emerge organically and informally from the bottom up in conflict-affected contexts by the women themselves. Economic livelihood does not just mean formal employment in jobs that require qualifications. It also means the vast and varied informal sector and home-based economies which are often rooted in cultural practices and craft making.

Commercialisation

The Culture and Conflict project commercialized research outcomes to produce tangible social and economic benefits, particularly for women in conflict-affected regions such as Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Rather than focusing solely on academic outputs, the project used a cultural mapping methodology to identify valuable local knowledge and cultural practices – especially those passed along matrilineal lines – and pivoted these toward action-oriented strategies that foster economic development and empower women through sustainable livelihoods. This commercial aspect was driven by country-based partners, who were working at the intersections of conflict and poverty from a gendered inequality lens. Partner organisations co-designed this project and aligned their ambitions to the Women, Peace and Security Framework which emphasizes the crucial role of women in all stages of peace and security processes, from conflict prevention and mediation to peacekeeping and reconstruction.

The commercialisation process focussed on locally valued, culturally significant practices, and involved the following approaches:
• Transforming Knowledge into Livelihoods: The project leveraged culturally rooted craft-making skills and knowledge for economic agency. By connecting traditional skills based on tacit knowledge into market-based employment narratives, participants gained both empowerment and income, translating intangible cultural values into tangible economic outputs.
• Action-Oriented Methodology: Rather than keeping insights as theoretical, the project design ensured research was action-based—aiding community partners in building new pathways to employment and entrepreneurship, especially within the informal sector allowing for tangible outcomes to be designed and delivered.
• Co-production and Equity: The approach prioritized equitable collaboration with local partners and participants, treating them as co-creators rather than mere data subjects. Locally driven leadership helped ensure that commercial benefits were not extractive but were retained and shared by the communities themselves.
• Agility and Responsiveness: Through major events—such as political crises, climate disasters, and pandemics—the commercialisation strategies were agile, recalibrating to ensure that no undue burden was placed on participants. This responsiveness promoted sustainability and continued value even amid disruption.
This model of commercializing research demonstrates how our research project blurred the line between academic knowledge production and real-world economic benefit, promoting decolonial, non-extractive partnerships while tangibly improving participants’ livelihoods. It is characterized by ethically grounded, context-sensitive, and practically impactful commercialization.