Winnifred Bedigen

Research profile

Dr. Bedigen is a scholar whose research centres on the intersection of indigenous knowledge systems, peacebuilding, gender, youth, and traditional institutions across Africa.

Her work critically explores how culturally rooted practices can contribute to sustainable peace and social transformation.

She is the author of the book "Indigenous Peacebuilding in South Sudan: Delivering Sustainable Peace Through Traditional Institutions, Customs, and Practices," published by Routledge.

This seminal work offers a comprehensive examination of how indigenous mechanisms can be harnessed to foster long-term peace in post-conflict societies.

Professional activity

Currently, Dr. Bedigen coordinates the Yorkshire African Studies Network (YASN), Leeds, serves as a Mentor in the British Academy Mentoring Scheme and as an Academic Adviser for the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, where she supports emerging scholars and contributes to capacity-building in higher education.

Her collaborative research projects span a range of pressing global issues, including the intersection of climate-induced health challenges and indigenous knowledge systems, as well as context-specific approaches to women’s empowerment.

Current work

I am currently contributing to a Special Issue proposal for Security Dialogue under the theme "Multiple Worlds: Rethinking Peace through Relational Ecologies."

My research advances innovative decolonial approaches to peacebuilding by examining the Loketio/Logedio—a traditional pregnancy support belt—as a pioneering framework for relational peace theory and practice among Nilotic pastoralist communities in East Africa’s conflict-affected regions.

This study foregrounds critical ontological and epistemological gaps in dominant peacebuilding paradigms.

It underscores the need for deeper empirical and theoretical engagement with relational ecologies as a lens for reimagining peace.

Resources

• Bedigen, W., 2023. Indigenous Peacebuilding in South Sudan: Delivering Sustainable Peace Through Traditional Institutions, Customs and Practices. Taylor & Francis.
  Books
• Bedigen, W. (2025). Social-Cultural Autonomy and Norms for Sustainable Women's Empowerment. In: Brinkmann, R., Oo, C.W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Practical Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82857-7_8
• Forthcoming: The Palgrave Handbook of Peace, Conflict and Security Studies in Africa.
  Chapter Title: Women, Conflict, and Peacebuilding: Loketio/Logedio as a Conflict Deterrence and Peacebuilding Mechanism Among East African Pastoralists. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-92924-3