ABSTRACT
In the current global context, preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) has become a crucial priority for international actors. Recognizing the significance of gender in these efforts, this chapter proposes a bottom-up multiscalar analytical framework to critically assess how security interventions intersect with local agency, focusing on the gendered dimensions of resilience and adaptation in violent extremism-affected areas. Taking Niger as a case study, it applies complexity theory and adaptive peacebuilding to unpack the interplay between P/CVE strategies, security governance, and community-driven responses to extremism. The chapter introduces a novel multiscalar model that links security dynamics with community resilience-building efforts and delineates a continuum of collaboration with jihadist groups—ranging from non-engagement in securitized urban spaces to coerced accommodation in rural areas under jihadi governance. By employing ethnographic methods based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the research interrogates the ways in which communities navigate the power asymmetries inherent in P/CVE interventions, revealing how resilience is often shaped not by empowerment but by necessity and survival imperatives. It argues that jihadist groups adopt a population-centric insurgency model, whereby local communities are largely spared as part of a broader strategy to entrench governance structures. Within this framework, women's agency is constrained by limited alternatives, as compliance with jihadi rule emerges as a coping mechanism in the absence of viable state protection. Crucially, counter-extremism efforts, including a gender component, prove ineffective at best—especially in rural settings.
Keywords: Niger, Gender, Violent Extremism, Community Resilience, Peacebuilding
