ABSTRACT
Women’s formal and informal community involvement, also referred to as volunteering or helping out, are significant to the wellbeing of children, families, individuals, communities, and the women themselves. This chapter focuses on a holistic feminist definition of peace as both a goal and the means for achieving the goal - a positive dynamic peace. Positive dynamic peace reflects the absence of both direct and structural violence and is “the presence of ethics and practices of interconnectedness, caring and social justice”. Rural areas are diverse in multiple ways; there are different ruralities within rural geographical spaces. Gender identities shape and are shaped by experiences in communities, including experiences of peacebuilding. Women’s observations of community events highlighted a gender-informed assigning of work. Role models can be crucial in how women frame their possibilities and capabilities in regards to peacebuilding. Women’s community peacebuilding in the spheres of their lived experience pieces together a dynamic peace.
