Women’s tacit, uncoded knowledge ownership and value in conflict zones

This paper explores the meaning that making brings to the life of women in conflict zones. How does tacit knowledge play itself out in the defining of their socio economic identities and related place making with the community? The value and recognition of this knowledge as embodied and as projected outwards to their communities and nations shall be discussed. How is this knowledge owned, contained, acknowledged and valued by the women, and by those who view this from the outside? How does externally funded research switch this knowledge and its ownership? The role of research ethics in these spaces are key to understanding equitability of working in these contexts. Patriarchal knowledge hierarchies and the manners in which these are supplemented and sustained within the settings of conflict are key barriers to equitable access to livelihood, dignity and cultural aspects of making for many women. This paper will raise questions about the multiple structural inequalities driven by gendered exclusions, that craftswomen in South and Central Asia experience in their everyday lives. The paper is informed by ongoing research on the GCRF Gender, Justice, Security hub based at the London School of Economic (2019-2024).