Militaries

Citation:

Bastick, Megan, and Claire Duncanson. 2018. "Agents of Change? Gender Advisors in NATO Militaries." International Peacekeeping 25 (4): 554-77.

Authors: Megan Bastick, Claire Duncanson

Abstract:

This paper is about the experiences of Gender Advisors in NATO and partner militaries, and the question of whether militaries can contribute to a feminist vision of peace and security. Gender Advisors are increasingly being adopted as a mechanism to help militaries to implement commitments under the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Based on semi-structured interviews and a workshop with individuals working as Military Gender Advisors from 2009 to 2016 in Afghanistan, Kosovo and in NATO and national military commands and headquarters, this paper explores their own perceptions of their work, its goals, shortcomings and achievements. It highlights Military Gender Advisors’ strong commitment to Women, Peace and Security aims, but the resistance their work faces within their institutions, and challenges of inadequate resourcing, preparation and contextual knowledge. Military Gender Advisors’ experiences paint a picture of NATO and partner Militaries having in some places made progress in protection and empowerment of local women, but fragile and partial. These findings speak to wider debates within feminist security studies around whether and how militaries achieve human security in peacekeeping operations, and the risks of militarization of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peacekeeping, Peace and Security, Security, Human Security Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Afghanistan, Kosovo

Year: 2018

Citation:

Sartori, Paola, and Alessandra Scalia. 2017. "Women and Peace Operations: The Achievement of the Italian Mission in Herat." IAI Working Papers, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome. 

Authors: Paola Sartori, Alessandra Scalia

Abstract:

The research that forms the basis of this study aims to address women’s roles within peace operations, as well as their contribution to security and peace-building. Based on Italy’s contribution to the NATO-led missions – the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and, currently, Resolute Support (RS) – the subject of the analysis is Afghanistan, and particularly Herat Province. The research effort is specifically aimed at assessing the impact of the civil–military cooperation (CIMIC) initiatives implemented by Italian troops in Herat, with a specific focus on gender and Afghan women. The first part of this paper addresses the theoretical framework on women’s participation in stabilization and reconstruction efforts. It introduces concepts such as gender analysis and gender mainstreaming, and, consequently, the benefits of focusing on gender when carrying out CIMIC initiatives within peace operations. The second part focuses on the CIMIC activities implemented by the Italian contingent in Herat Province. The concluding section of the paper provides some “food for thought”, aimed at contributing to further enhancing the effectiveness of the CIMIC projects carried out by the Italian military and their related effects.

Keywords: Afghanistan, security, education, economy, military missions, NATO, civil-military cooperation, Italy

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Gender Mainstreaming, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peace and Security, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Peacebuilding Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Afghanistan, Italy

Year: 2017

Citation:

Mathers, Jennifer G. 2020. “Women, War and Austerity: IFIs and the Construction of Gendered Economic Insecurities in Ukraine.” Review of International Political Economy, April, 1–22. doi: 10.1080/09692290.2020.1725903.

Author: Jennifer G. Mathers

Abstract:

This paper analyses the gendered circuits of violence that create and sustain economic insecurity in Ukraine. Drawing on feminist political economy analysis of the dependence of structural adjustment programmes on women’s labor, and feminist security studies critical analysis of the negative effects of militaries on human security, the paper shows how IFI-imposed austerity measures in Ukraine are inextricable from processes of militarization. While the gendered impacts of each of these distinct processes have been explored, this paper empirically demonstrates how IFI loan conditionalities and militarization intensify and reinforce one another precisely through the burdens they place on households and especially on women in the context of conflict.

Keywords: Ukraine, global financial crisis, international financial institutions, Gender, conflict, security, russia

Topics: Economies, Feminist Economics, Conflict, Feminisms, Feminist Political Economy, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Households, International Financial Institutions, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarization, Livelihoods, Militarized Livelihoods, Security, Violence Regions: Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Russian Federation, Ukraine

Year: 2020

Citation:

Alwan, Christine, and S. Laurel Weldon. 2017. “What is Feminist Foreign Policy? An Explanatory Evaluation of Foreign Policy in OECD Countries.” Paper prepared for 2017 European Conference on Politics and Gender, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Authors: Christine Alwan, S. Laurel Weldon

Abstract:

In 2015, Sweden’s foreign affairs minister boldly acclaimed that the state had a feminist foreign policy, with rights, representation, and resources at its core (Patel 2015). While these criteria may be a helpful for understanding the variety of issues foreign policy makers must consider to develop and implement gender equitable policy, they do not provide a specific framework for a feminist foreign policy theory. We hope to address this lack of specificity by drawing on existing theories of foreign policy and feminist IR.  We argue why the idea of a feminist foreign policy is radical given the nature of international politics, state militaries, and government actors. We point to the symbiotic relationship between militarism and masculinity with militarism and the state. This androcentric view of international politics does not adequately address the ways in which women’s lives affect and are affected by foreign policy decisions. We hope that these initial discussions will help both policy scholars and practitioners develop and incorporate a feminist theory of foreign policy into foreign policy decision-making.

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Foreign Policy, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarism, Rights

Year: 2017

Citation:

Chisholm, Amanda. 2018. “Perspectives on Private Security: The Myth, the Men and the Markets.” In Handbook on the International Political Economy of Gender, edited by Juanita Elias and Adrienne Roberts, 196-210. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Author: Amanda Chisholm

Annotation:

Topics: Economies, Feminisms, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Private Military & Security, Militaries, Peacekeeping, Political Economies, Security

Year: 2018

Citation:

Egnell, Robert. 2016. “Gender Perspectives and Military Effectiveness: Implementing UNSCR 1325 and the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.” Prism: A Journal of the Center for Complex Operations 6 (1): 73-89.

Author: Robert Egnell

Annotation:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Peace and Security, Post-Conflict Governance, International Organizations, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Security Sector Reform Regions: Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Sweden

Year: 2016

Citation:

Egnell, Robert, Petter Hojem, and Hannes Berts. 2014. Gender, Military Effectiveness, and Organizational Change: The Swedish Model. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Authors: Robert Egnell, Petter Hojem, Hannes Berts

Annotation:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Discourses, Conflict, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Sweden

Year: 2014

Citation:

Takenaka, Akiko. 2016. “Gender and Post-War Relief: Support for War-Widowed Mothers in Occupied Japan (1945-52).” Gender & History 28 (3): 775–93. 

Author: Akiko Takenaka

Abstract:

This article analyses the gender implications that emerged through welfare support for the war‐bereaved in post‐Asia‐Pacific War Japan. It follows the foundation, activities and dissolution of the Federation of Bereaved War Victims, the first support group for the war‐bereaved that initially began as an organisation for military widows. After its dissolution, members of the Federation went on to create two separate groups – the Victims’ Federation and Widows’ Federation – whose members, scope and objectives presented stark gendered divisions. By examining this divide, and by analysing the earlier histories of the organisations, this article explores the relationships among gender, military, death and bereavement, and post‐war relief. The article pays particular attention to the tensions and negotiations among various interest groups, including military widows, women widowed from other causes, feminist activists, male lawmakers, bereaved fathers and the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. I place the dissolution of the Federation in its social and political contexts and analyse its relationship to the contemporaneous discussions on female citizenship. In particular, I focus on two areas mobilised by Japanese feminist activists since the early twentieth century: suffrage and motherhood. The short history of the Federation provides a means to examine the reconfiguration of the connection between gender and citizenship during the demilitarisation and democratisation processes that occurred in occupied Japan.

Topics: Citizenship, Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2016

Citation:

Chisholm, Amanda, and Joanna Tidy. 2017. “Beyond the Hegemonic in the Study of Militaries, Masculinities, and War.” Critical Military Studies 3 (2): 99-102.

Authors: Amanda Chisholm, Joanna Tidy

Annotation:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Conflict, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarism

Year: 2017

Citation:

Ramirez, M. Heliana, and Paul R. Sterzing. 2017. “Coming out in Camouflage: A Queer Theory Perspective on the Strength, Resilience, and Resistance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Service Members and Veterans.” Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services 29 (1): 68–86. 

Authors: M. Heliana Ramirez, Paul R. Sterzing

Abstract:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) service members have made profound contributions to the U. S. military despite serving under anti-LGBT military policies. Little is known about their everyday acts of strength and resistance, which is vital information for developing strengths-based services. This article utilizes a queer theory framework to (a) discuss LGBT military contributions and anti-LGBT military policies, (b) explore three LGBT-specific military minority stressors, and (c) identify four strategies of strength and resistance used to manage an antiLGBT military environment. Clinical suggestions are proposed for integrating military and LGBT identities and designing interventions that blend military and LGBT cultures.

Keywords: LGBT, military, veteran, strengths-based, resilience, queer theory

Topics: Combatants, Gender, Health, HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, PTSD, Trauma, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2017