Researching War

Researching War provides a unique overview of varied feminist contributions to the study of war through case studies from around the world. Written by well-respected scholars, each chapter explicitly showcases the role of feminist methodological, ethical and political commitments in the research process. Designed to be useful for teaching also, the book provides insight into feminist research practices for students and scholars wanting to further their understanding what it means to study war (and other issues) from a feminist perspective. To this end, every author follows a four-part structure in the presentation of their case study: outlining a research puzzle, explaining the chosen approach, describing the findings and, finally, offering a reflection on the feminist commitments that guided the research. This book: - Provides a multi-disciplinary perspective on war by drawing on disciplines such as anthropology, history, literature, peace research, postcolonial theory, queer studies, security studies, and women's studies; - Showcases a multiplicity of experiences with war and violence, emphasizing everyday experiences of war and violence with accounts from around the world; - Challenges stereotypical accounts of women, violence, and war by pointing to contradictions and unexpected continuities as well as unexpected findings made possible by adopting a feminist perspective; - Teases out linkages between various forms of political violence (against women, but increasingly also by women); - Discusses theoretical and methodological innovation in feminist research on war. This book will be essential reading for advanced students and scholars of Security Studies, Gender and Conflict, Women and War, Feminist International Relations and Research Methods.

Annick T.R. Wibben is Associate Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco (USF) where she also directs the Peace & Justice Studies program. Her research straddles (feminist) security studies, (critical) military studies, and feminist international relations, also addressing issues of methodology, representation, and writing. She is the author of Feminist Security Studies: A Narrative Approach (Routledge, 2011).

Foreword Introduction Annick T.R. Wibben Part I - In Wars 1. Chechen political violence as desperation: What feminist discourse analysis reveals Caron Gentry 2. Women and the matrix of violence: A study of the Maoist insurgency in India Swati Parashar 3. Female Engagement Teams in Afghanistan: Exploring the 'war on terror' narrative Annick T.R. Wibben 4. Positionalities, intersectionalities and transnational feminism in researching women in post-invasion Iraq Nadje Al-Ali & Nicola Pratt 5. Militarized masculinities, women torturers and the limits of gender analysis at Abu Ghraib Melanie Richter-Montpetit 6. Researching wartime rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): A methodology of unease Maria Eriksson Baas & Maria Stern Part II - After Wars 1. Tracing women's rights after genocide: The case of Rwanda Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel 2. "Doing No Harm": Methodological and ethical challenges of working with women associated with fighting forces/ ex-combatants in Liberia Helen Basini 3. An intersectional analysis of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Pascha Bueno-Hansen Part III: Everyday Wars 1. Studying gender in protracted conflict: Israeli women's lives in quantitative methods Sarai Aharoni 2. Studying ethical action competence and mindful action from feminist perspectives: The case of Nordic female police officers in Kosovo Elina Penttinen 3. Algerian Feminist Methodologies of Recovery, Redress and Resistance in Assia Djebar's La femme sans sepulture Shawn Doubiago Afterword Cynthia Enloe