Gender and Political Violence ― Women Changing the Politics of Terrorism

This book examines the role of gender in political conflicts worldwide, specifically the intersection between gender and terrorism. Political violence has historically been viewed as a male domain with men considered the perpetrators of violence and power, and women as victims without power. Whereas men and masculinity are associated with war and aggression, women and femininity conjure up socially constructed images of passivity and peace. This distinction of men as aggressors and women as passive victims denies women their voice and agency. This book investigates how women cope with and influence violent politics, and is both a descriptive and analytical attempt to describe in what ways women are present or absent in political contexts involving political violence, and how they deal with gender assumptions, express gender identities, and frame their actions regarding political violence encountered in their lives. The book looks to reach beyond the notion of women as victims of terrorism or genocide without agency, and to recognize the gendered nature of political conflicts and how women respond to violence. This book will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in political science, sociology, cultural studies, and gender studies, academics in terrorism studies and gender studies, government officials, NGOs, and professionals working in areas of violent conflict.

Dr. Lori Poloni-Staudinger (PhD Indiana University 2005) is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. She is also Statewide Coordinator for Arizona Deliberates, an organization focused on increasing public deliberation in Arizona, and a Kettering Foundation Fellow. Her research focuses on social movements and political participation, political contention and extra-institutional participation, and political institutions, mainly in Western Europe. Her recent work examines questions around women and terrorism and has been published in many journals and a book. Dr. Poloni-Staudinger was a Distinguished Fulbright Fellow at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, Austria in 2010 and has served as a consultant for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. She also taught at University of the Basque Country in San Sebastian, Spain and has travelled extensively and lived in many parts of Europe and the United States.

Dr. Candice D. Ortbals, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Social Science Division at Pepperdine University. She researches gender and politics, focusing on social movements, state feminism, terrorism, and memory. Her work largely examines politics in Spain. She is the author, with Lori Poloni-Staudinger, of Terrorism and Violent Conflict: Women’s Agency, Leadership and Responses (2012, Springer Press). She has also published in Politics & Gender, International Studies Quartile, and Critical Terrorism Studies. Her email address is cortbals@pepperdine.edu.