South Asia

Citation:

Kandiyoti, Deniz. 2007. "Old Dilemmas or New Challenges? The Politics of Gender and Reconstruction in Afghanistan." Development and Change 38 (2): 169–99. 

Author: Deniz Kandiyoti

Abstract:

This article situates the politics of gender in Afghanistan in the nexus of global and local influences that shape the policy agenda of post-Taliban reconstruction. Three sets of factors that define the parameters of current efforts at securing gender justice are analysed: a troubled history of state– society relations; the profound social transformations brought about by years of prolonged conflict; and the process of institution-building under way since the Bonn Agreement in 2001. This evolving institutional framework opens up a new field of contestation between the agenda of international donor agencies, an aid-dependent government and diverse political factions, some with conservative Islamist platforms. At the grassroots, the dynamics of gendered disadvantage, the erosion of local livelihoods, the criminalization of the economy and insecurity at the hands of armed groups combine seamlessly to produce extreme forms of female vulnerability. The ways in which these contradictory influences play out in the context of a fluid process of political settlement will be decisive in determining prospects for the future. 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Society, Economies, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, International Organizations, Justice, Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Religion Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan

Year: 2007

Citation:

Jabbra, Nancy W. 2006. "Women, Words and War: Explaining 9/11 and Justifying US Military Action in Afghanistan and Iraq." Journal of International Women’s Studies 8:1, 236-55.

Author: Nancy W. Jabbra

Abstract:

Texts and images in the print media, outdoor advertisements, and on the Internet form the primary source material for this article. The Bush administration and the American media, drawing upon well-worn traditions of representation, contrasted American women and Muslim/Middle Eastern women, American and Middle Eastern male sexuality, and the moral qualities (good versus evil) of American and Middle Eastern people. They used those contrasts to explain 9/11 and legitimize war in Afghanistan and Iraq. 9/11 was simply explained through a contrast between American innocence and Muslim savagery. For Afghanistan, the predominant trope was liberating Afghan women from the Taliban, or white men rescuing brown women from brown men, a story at least as old as the British Raj. The Iraq representations were more complex; both pro-war and anti-war proponents used the same images of suffering Iraqi women and girls, but to different ends: Saddam Hussein was a demon who must be destroyed, or the suffering was caused by sanctions and Western military action. Saddam himself was conflated with Iraq, and images of deviant sexuality were employed. Throughout, American women and girls were portrayed as the right kind of woman: usually white and innocent, or heroic soldiers. In any case, they were free, not oppressed. 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Female Combatants, Male Combatants, Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Media, Terrorism, Sexuality Regions: MENA, Americas, North America, Asia, Middle East, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, United States of America

Year: 2006

Citation:

Authors: Mona Lena Krook, Diana Z. O’Brien, Krista M. Swip

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Governance, Constitutions, Quotas, Post-Conflict Governance, International Organizations, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Asia, Middle East, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Iraq

Year: 2010

Relevant Links: Access PDF here

Citation:

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2005. Breaking Ground: Present and Future Perspective for Women in Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Author: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Topics: Agriculture, Civil Society, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Governance, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights, Security, Violence Regions: Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, Central America, South America, Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Europe

Year: 2005

Relevant Links: Spanish version available here, Access to PDF here

Citation:

Eastin, Joshua and Aseem Prakash. 2013. “Economic Development and Gender Equality: Is There a Gender Kuznets Curve?” World Politics 65 (1): 156-86.

Authors: Joshua Eastin, Aseem Prakash

Topics: Civil Society, Class, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Education, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Men, Girls, Boys, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Globalization, Households, Livelihoods, Political Economies, Rights, Human Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, MENA, Americas, Central America, Asia, Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: India, Mexico, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka

Year: 2013

Citation:

Bose, Sharmistha. 2004. “Positioning Women within the Environmental Justice Framework: A Case from the Mining Sector.” Gender, Technology and Development 8 (3): 407–12.

Author: Sharmistha Bose

Topics: Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2004

Citation:

Qureshi, Shazia, Safdar Abbas, Rabia Safdar, and Rubeena Zakar. 2013. “Gender Responsive Budgeting in Pakistan: Scope and Challenges.” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 50 (1): 1–25.

Authors: Shazia Qureshi, Rubeena Zakar, Rabia Safdar, Safdar Abbas

Abstract:

Women face discriminatory treatment in all spheres of life in Pakistan. Among other initiatives taken to reduce the gender gap between men and women, Gender Responsive Budgets could be of paramount importance. The present study is intended to delineate the concept of Gender Responsive Budgeting in a Pakistani context and to investigate the scope and challenges of the Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative in Pakistan. A critical review of secondary data revealed that Gender Responsive Budgeting is able not only to identify gender gaps but also to reduce gender inequality through different policy interventions. Gender Responsive Budgeting is confronted with institutional and administrative challenges. It is enacted through different tools and it addresses and accounts for the needs, concerns and priorities of women. Effective implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting could contribute substantially to achieving the goal of women’s empowerment and the overall development of a country.

Topics: Development, Gender, Gender Budgeting Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Pakistan

Year: 2013

Citation:

Das, Runa. 2013. “United States-India Nuclear Relations Post-9/11: Neo-Liberal Discourses, Masculinities and Orientalism in International Politics.” Journal of Asian and African Studies. 

Author: Runa Das

Abstract:

In this article I explore how the post-9/11 neo-liberal climate of globalization has served as the context within which is articulated masculinist and orientalist forms of nuclear discourses between India and the United States (US). To this extent, I draw from feminist international relations (IR), that security is a gendered phenomenon, to explore the linkages between masculinities and nuclear weapons as underpinning the nuclear security discourses between India and the US. Yet considering issues of international hierarchy and power relations between India and the US, I also draw from Edward Said’s Orientalism to explore how assumptions of orientalism are also sustained in these masculinist nuclear discourses. My contribution lies in enriching feminist IR with a post-colonial angle by suggesting that feminist IR continue to engage with post-colonial feminist perspectives to comprehend the masculinist and orientalist forms of identity politics that underpin security relations/discourses between Western and post-colonial states.

Keywords: globalization, India, masculinity, nuclear security, orientalism, Pakistan, United States

Topics: Armed Conflict, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Discourses, Globalization, Security, Violence, Weapons /Arms, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Regions: Americas, North America, Asia, South Asia Countries: India, United States of America

Year: 2013

Citation:

Subedi, Govind. 2009. “Trafficking in girls and women in Nepal for commercial sexual exploitation: emerging concerns and gaps.” Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies: Alam e Niswan 16 (1&2): 121-145.

Author: Govind Subedi

Abstract:

Trafficking in girls and women for sexual exploitation has a long history in Nepal. Its magnitude, processes and factors leading to trafficking have changed with the growing phenomena of urbanization, Nepal’s entry in the world labour market for carpet industry, armed conflict and the emergence of foreign labour market opportunities for Nepali youth especially after 2000. Utilising secondary data from different sources and narratives of the trafficking survivors, this article aims to critically review the contemporary trafficking situation in Nepal and Government’s and civil society’s efforts to combat trafficking and identify the new areas of concerns and gaps to combat trafficking in girls and women.

Topics: Age, Youth, Gender, Women, Girls, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Labor Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2009

Citation:

Hossain, Kazi Tobarak and Md. Saidur Rashid Sumon. 2013. "Violence Against Women: Nature, Causes and Dimensions in Contemporary Bangladesh." Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology 10 (1): 79-91.

Authors: Kazi Tobarak Hossain, Md. Saidur Rashid Sumon

Abstract:

This article is an attempt to discuss some of the major dimensions of violence against women in Bangladesh. Different types of violence against women take place quite frequently in Bangladesh such as domestic violence, acid violence, rape, gang rape, murder, forced prostitution, “Eve-teasing”. The present paper, using data from various secondary sources, examines the nature, causes, magnitude and trend of violence against women in Bangladesh.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2013