Feminisms

Victims, Perpetrators, and Actors' Revisited: Exploring the Potential for a Feminist Reconseptualisation of (International) Security and (Gender) Violence

Citation:

Shepherd, Laura J. 2007. "Victims, Perpetrators, and Actors' Revisited: Exploring the Potential for a Feminist Reconseptualisation of (International) Security and (Gender) Violence." The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 9 (2): 239-56.

Author: Laura J. Shepherd

Abstract:

In the discipline of International Relations (IR), which takes seriously issues of war and peace, there has been a lack of attention paid to theorising security in relation to violence. In this article, I explore the potential for a feminist reworking of these concepts. With reference to a range of literature addressing security and violence, I offer some insights into the relevance of such a reconceptualisation. I draw attention to the ways in which work on issues of violence and security function to reproduce understandings of these concepts that delimit the value of both academic theorising and policy prescription. In the study of security, because of the discursive power of the concept, and of violence, these considerations are particularly important, as they can literally be issues of life and death.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Peacebuilding, Security, Human Security, Violence

Year: 2007

Transnationalism, Feminism, and Fundamentalism

Citation:

Moallem, Minoo. 1999. “Transnationalism, Feminism, and Fundamentalism.” In Between Woman and Nation: Nationalisms, Transnational Feminisms, and the State, edited by Minoo Moallem, Norma Alarcon, and Caren Kaplan, 320-48. Durham: Duke University Press.

Author: Minoo Moallem

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Nationalism

Year: 1999

The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security

Citation:

Reardon, Betty, and Asha Hans. 2010. The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security. New Dehli: Routledge.

Authors: Betty Reardon, Asha Hans

Abstract:

The book asserts that human security derives from the experience and expectation of human well-being which depends on four essential conditions: a life sustaining environment, the meeting of essential physical needs, respect for the identity and dignity of persons and groups, protection from avoidable harm and expectations of remedy from them. The book demonstrates their integral relationship to human security. Patriarchy being the germinal paradigm from which most major human institutions such as the state, the economy, organised religions and social relations have evolved, the book argues that fundamental inequalities must be challenged for the sake of equality and security. The fundamental point raised is that expectation of human well-being is a continuing cause of armed conflict which constitutes a threat to peace and survival of all humanity and human security cannot exist within a militarised security system. The editors of the book bring together 14 essays which critically examine militarised security in order to find human security pathways, show ways in which to refute the dominant paradigm, indicate a clear gender analysis that challenges the current system, and suggests alternatives to militarised security. With a mix of female and male feminist scholar activists as contributors, the book makes an important contribution to a new discourse on human security.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Economies, Economic Inequality, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Discourses, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Security, Human Security

Year: 2010

Presidential Address: Heroes, Warriors, and Burqas: A Feminist Sociologist’s Reflections on September 11

Citation:

Lorber, Judith. 2002. “Presidential Address: Heroes, Warriors, and Burqas: A Feminist Sociologist’s Reflections on September 11.” Sociological Forum 17 (3): 377-96.

Author: Judith Lorber

Abstract:

My presidential address looked back at the gendered imagery of American heroes and warriors, Muslim terrorists, and oppressed Islamic women as they appeared in comparatively sophisticated media sources in the first 6 months after September 11. The imagery was conventionally gendered, but the actions of women and men reported in the same sources showed multiple gendering heterogeneity within homogeneity. Making this multiplicity of gendering visible blurs and undermines gender lines and the inequities built on them. The social constructions of heroism, masculinity, and Islamic womanhood are core parts of the gender politics of September 11, a politics deeply embedded in the current debates over the causes and consequences of terrorism and war.

Keywords: September 11, Gender, masculinity, terrorism, Islamic feminism

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Religion, Terrorism

Year: 2002

Ending Sexual Violence in the Congo

Citation:

Breton-Le Goff, Gaelle. 2010. “Ending Sexual Violence in the Congo.” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 34 (1): 13–40.

Author: Gaelle Bretton-Le Goff

Abstract:

Even today, feminist activists fighting against impunity for sexual crimes are at risk of death threats and sexual violence, including having their relatives raped, beaten, or forced to stay nude for hours in front of a group of armed soldiers. ... While the security situation was deteriorating due to the presence of two dozen armed groups in the region, the Security Council decided in 2004 to modify the mandate of MONUC to include the protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence and to investigate serious violations of human rights. ... Following the attacks on Goma and Rutshuru in North Kivu last year by Nkunda's CNDP rebels, HRW and other NGOs, as well as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, rapidly denounced sexual violence perpetrated by both: the rebels and the national army. ... In the Kivu and Ituri, police officers lack the necessary supplies to carry out their duties; they often complain of not having gasoline for their motorcycles, making it difficult to undertake investigations on the ground. ... At least five million people have been killed during the conflicts, and an unknown number of women, girls, boys, and men have been victims of sexual violence. (LEXISNEXIS)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Rights, Human Rights, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2010

Does Feminism Need a Theory of Transitional Justice? An Introductory Essay

Citation:

Bell, Christine, and Catherine O’Rourke. 2007. “Does Feminism Need a Theory of Transitional Justice? An Introductory Essay.” The International Journal of Transitional Justice 1: 23–44. 

Authors: Catherine O’Rourke, Christine Bell

Abstract:

This essay surveys feminist scholarship and praxis on transitional justice, examining its ongoing contribution to the conceptualization and design of transitional justice mechanisms. We examine some of the gender implications of a specifically ‘transitional’ theory of justice. The essay concludes by proposing that feminist theory should focus on how transitional justice debates help or hinder broader projects of securing material gains for women through transition, rather than trying to fit a feminist notion of justice within transitional justice frameworks.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Justice, Transitional Justice

Year: 2007

Gender and Civil Society in the Middle East

Citation:

Al-Ali, Nadje. 2003. “Gender and Civil Society in the Middle East.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 5 (2): 216–32.

Author: Nadje Al-Ali

Abstract:

This article explores the aims, activities and challenges of women's movements in the Middle East. It demonstrates the similarities among movements, which are related to both the historical emergence of women's movements, and in particular their close affiliation to nationalist struggles, as well as contemporary circumstances such as ambiguous government policies, repression of civil societies and prevailing authoritarian political cultures. This contribution also looks to the specific factors and conditions that shape women's movements in particular countries differently, thereby highlighting the great degree of heterogeneity among women's organizations in the Middle East. An analysis of the actual goals and activities of women's groups in various countries, such as Jordan, Egypt and Palestine reveals that women activists tend to get mobilized around issues related to modernization and development. Issues such as women's rights to education, work and political participation have traditionally been both the accepted demands of women activists as well as part of the discourses of male modernizers and reformers. However, the more sensitive issues of women's reproductive rights and violence against women, for example, have been taken up by only a few women's organizations in recent years. The relationship of women's organizations to the state is key to the analysis of women's movements in the region. Varying levels of dependence and autonomy can be detected not only in the comparison of one country with another but also within given country contexts.

Topics: Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Nationalism, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Asia, Middle East Countries: Egypt, Jordan, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2003

An Experiment in Transition from Military to Human Security

Citation:

Hans, Asha. 2010. “An Experiment in Transition from Military to Human Security.” In The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security, edited by Betty A. Reardon, 384–409. New York: Routledge.

Author: Asha Hans

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Peace Processes, Security, Human Security

Year: 2010

Gender, Health, Peace and Security

Citation:

Sharpe, Albie. 2010. “Gender, Health, Peace and Security.” In The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security, edited by Betty A. Reardon and Asha Hans, 351–83. New York: Routledge.

Author: Albie Sharpe

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Health, Peace Processes, Security, Human Security

Year: 2010

Jordanian Women's Concepts of Human Security

Citation:

Nemeh, Norma. 2010. “Jordanian Women’s Concepts of Human Security.” In The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security, edited by Betty A. Reardon and Asha Hans, 317–50. New York: Routledge.

Author: Norma Nemeh

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Security, Human Security Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Jordan

Year: 2010

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