The Case of CheckpointWatch: A Study of Organizational Practices in a Women's Human Rights Organization

Abstract

The present study aims to discern the ways whereby gender-role perceptions and women's perspectives on political conflict and peace processes inform the organizational development process, reflected in organizational structure and processes. In order to achieve this we studied CheckpointWatch, a women's voluntary organization devoted to monitoring and reporting human rights violations of Palestinians crossing Israeli military checkpoints. The research is a qualitative study. Data gathering was designed to collect information from two sources: (1) interviews with key informants in the organization, and (2) documents transmitted over the organization's internal communications network.The findings illustrate the complexities involved in the organizational development processes of a women's peace and human rights organization, its vacillation between transition into a more formalized NGO and its holding on to the social movement organization, grassroots stage. The study also demonstrates the significance of feminist ideology with its embedded complexity and internal paradoxes, which infiltrates into organizational structure, operational processes and activities. Finally, this research highlights the fundamental role of the cultural and sociopolitical context in women's organizational practices. Overall, the study contributes to organization studies by shedding light on the intricacies of organizational dynamics in women's Peace and conflict resolution organizations.