Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
n Gender issues
/on jindy Pettman
Cendering international politics
Feminist international politics on the grounds that it would spread poverty, disease,
and enmity through Europe, and generate further
Feminist scholarship is often strongly resisted by conflict (which it did). This is why feminists are con-
academic gatekeepers,' f b l ' ? t " r t W X W b ~ 6 ' ~ d b cg ' ~ b ' ~ % h o experiences
s e are being taken ser-
gendered nature of intellectual work which is built iously? Whose understandings of politics, including
on (elite?) men's experiences. But feminism has international politics, become the material for theor-
come even later to International Relations, one of izing about, and acting in, 'the world'?
the most mascullnist of the s o d sciences. Sug-
Introduction 582
gested explanations include that the discipline is
male-dominated, and so more likely to reflect men's Where are women in global
Gendering international politics 583
Feminisms 586 interests and fears; and that the way the discipline politics?
Gender in the global political economy 589 constructs its subject matter makes most people,
including almost a l l women, disappea~Its focus on Feminist questions unsettle assumptions which
Gender and nationalism 592
the 'high politics' of diplomacy, war, and statecraft reflect only (some) men's experiences. In an early
Globalizing gender issues 594 called up a world of statesmen and soldiers, who feminist intervention in the discipline, Cynthia
Conclusion 597 were assumed to be male. Even when international Enloe asked the quenion: 'Where are the women?'
........................................................................ .,......................................-....-........-.................. political economy became a concern, this often took (1989). She found that women often were there,
the form of analysis of relations between states and even where we might not expect them: keeping a
markets,or of structures of domination and exploit- mtlltary base going, for example, or as the majority
READER'S GUIDE ation In either case, gender relations were rarely of workers in export-processing zones.
considered a necessary-part of the analysis. Asking the question 'Where are the women?' can
This chapter asks why feminist scholarship and gender issues have come so late to the study
The intellectualfield, or territory, fuaher disguised suggest different kinds of answers. For some, it leads
of international politics, and suggests how asking feminist questions might make a diier-
women and gender relations through its distinction to 'the famous fewf-to name Lndira Gandhi,Marga-
ence. It then identifies dierent kinds of feminism, and traces the shifting debates about between the domestic or the inside of states, and the ret Thatcher, m Golda Meir,for example. These par-
gender relations and sexual difference.The rest of the chapter explores a gender analysis internationalor the in-between of states. In the pro- t i d a z women were strong leaders who showed no
of several aspects of globalization: deregulation and structural adjustment politics, the cess differences within states, indudhg gender dif- hesitation to use force in internationalconflicts. This
changing internationaldivision of labour and the 'export' of women workers; rising identity ferences, were relegated away from its interest, and led some to say that the only diFference between
politics, and in particular the uses nationalisms make of women, and women's different left to other disciplines like Political Science and men and women is that women are so rarely in
responses to nationalism; and the ways women's transnational alliances and international Sociology.At the same time*world politics was often power; if they are, they behave like men. Others
conferences have globalized gender issues. characterized in terms of conflict, competition, argue that in national and world politics, only those
s&ty (defined as militaxy security); and-power ,. w h o play the main game well will succeed. It may
(demonstrated through the threat or use of force), show more about contemporary politics as mascu-
drawing on a particular notion of human nature that linist, than about .whether women and men are 'dif-
was gendered, and also perhaps dass and culture ferent'. So, too, men who appepI compassionate or
Introduction specific. seek to negotiate away from conflict may be accused
But many women have written on and thought of being wimps, 'women', or girls.
about war and peace. The discipline of International Others use the question 'Where are the women?'
International Relations has long been taught and der' the analysis. Now feminist scholarship is visible, Relations was established in 1919 in the wake of to identify places where women are not, because
theorized as if women were invisible: as if either if still marginal, and women's and gender issws are World War I, in the hope that the^ should never they are women. Until very recently, and still in
there were no women in world politics, which was the focus of transnational politics. Both feminist again be such a war However, it ignored the critiques many states, women were prohibited from combat
only men's business; or as if women and men were understandings and women's organizing provide us of women organizing for peace, including those who roles, which in turn made it impossible for them to
active in and affected by world politia in the same with perspectives that contribute a more inclusive had held the Hague peace conference in 1915, in the nse to commanding levels in their state's armed
ways, in which case there would be no need to 'gen- view of globalization. midst of that war, and who opposed the punishing forces. But not just any man is seen as a soldier. The
conditions imposed on Germany at its conclusion fierce debates over whether gay men should be
allowed to swe are M a r to those used a@nst family, the h c d l c WQ&L
fn bundatlon storlaa in A sdedlon of the couri@iesfmrn the 177 classified by
women sol&s: that they may brcak dooorr u n k p o w theory, wamn wue elso relegated away descending order of t4e percentage of women in the lower
, thrtEten group cohesion. Herr mtllharg ser-
f i ~ or fromthewcald ofrcason to one ofullot%ms and or single House of Paement (Situation as of 20 M m h
vice fs assodated with men,and with m t a h b d s of pasriolls, making than unreiiabk dttzmr,&id
even zOo0.)
e. dangerous to men. The ~ ~ split f e S a m Data In Fig 27.1 u r t 2 7 2 have bean compiled bytheklta-
Asklng%%?re~the.women?'rewalswmmmin coinddes with other splits, like r e a s o n I ~ o n , 4'
P ~ b m Union e ~on the w r l b n n w l o n pmvided by rdhrvl
p;iCa*;&&f&&&"~&nrg
pkices where, o t h d , we mlght not l b k h r them. mlndlbody, and malelkmale. Thew are gendered
F e m W t s take women seriously as howl* dijlsiorl5: they d t e certain kinds ofcbmactu or
makers about the wdd. This means seekingto ieam behapiomwith a particulargenda The 'male' side of
from their exp&am of politics and global pro- the dichotomy is usually given mosvalue, and flv-
cesses. Women are often under-reprented in fleged, while the female side is demlued L the pto-
formal politics, as heads of state or pa&amentarp cess, 'gender' becomes both daticural and a power
representatives or executive~ ~forexample,
t s
though in the k m d h m h n states, they are now Peminirm malres dvery important mt*c
close to equal (see Pig. 27.1). Women are more likely
dalms here.The !kt is that women's qerientcf are
to organize in other politics, in social movements,
systematidly difkrrnt kom men's, eved h m men
and in non-gOv--.tal orga&ationS (NGOs) foI
0ftheirownFnnlilporgroup.AnotheristhataLl
exampleThrough~politics,wumenwereactars sodal relations are gendaed; so we expedmce our
in global politics long before they were no- in class, or race, for example, in gederedforms. We do
the studyof IntemationaiRelations not our gender alow, or in isolation fmm
other social iddttes, idding £01 example
whether we are dtkens,wheR we live, or aur age.
Discovering gender And gender is consimiw of other sodal relaUons.
This~sspartialthose~ti~~fsodal
As&g Where are the women?' usually reveals relatiom including global politics that appear
women in dif6erent zoles, 6or example,differrnt rela- gendec-nmmI, but on closer exanmltion tnm oat
lkms to the military, or the market, camparedM to universafize (elite) men's experiences and 5
menWfienwefuIdWmlen,wefnldgerIderIda- knowledge. Women b natbd parliaments1945-1995
tions.Sowarstories~m?rydiffnwtstawtellof
brave soidier men, the pmte&m, end the women
they protect, who wait, and weep, and have more Key poiats
s a n s d o I t h e ~ ~ 1 9 8 J ) . T h e s e ~
men as the agents of the state or nation, Gender and fi ' ' came late to hta-
a n
liberal feminists do, but they argue that these values ing to tear it down in the face of its use against
are just what world politics, and ecology, now need. women (Snitow 1989).This is made even more dif-
Some cultural feminists are accused of essentialism, ficult in these times of growing right-wing and fun-
of representing these values as naturally women's, damentalist movements, which seek to discredit
Feminism is often identified as ' h t e r n . There is a nism, within and between states. First-wave femi- and so reinforcing the gendered stereotypes that feminism and attack women's rights.
very complicated politics here about who names nism was concerned with suffrage, with women's underpin women's oppression. Others see women's
feminism, a n d C w h ~other
s WDXQ$$S struggles for legal and civil tights, including their lights to educa- values more as leamed.s*, %.wlzpla are..a@wt. ,"..:a. .;*: ie:.'?.
equal rights & be called feminist: even if they tion. Many of these early fednisb were active in always those responsible for the care of childrrn, Sex and gender
themselves do not use that name. But it is not true other politics-as socialists, or anti-colonial nation- health and community. -They argue that men, too,
that either feminism or women's rights movements alists, or pacifists for example. So too second-wave can learn to nurture. Different feminisms, then, have di£ferent views on
were only or largely of Western origin. So in a num- feminists had very diffeTent politics, that affected Socialist femhists put together class and gender, gender relations, and how to change them so they do
ber of Asian and Middle Eastern colonies, 'the their understanding of sexual difference, for finding that a dass analysis alone leaves out much not routinely count against women. The conversa-
woman question' arose in the late nineteenth and example, their views on the possibility of alliances that women experience. It cannot explain why tions and sometimes conflicts between these femi-
early twentieth centuries, alongside or in connection with progressive men. In the 1970s and 1980s,these women are those responsible for reproductive and nism have taken us further in understanding gender
with early anti-colonial nationalism. These early differences were often summed up under labels of family labour, why women are so over-represented relations and sexual difference. Jane Flax asks 'how
femhhts were familiar with suffrage struggles in liberal, radical, and sodallst feminist While many among the poor, or why gender inequities, often do we think,or do not think or avoid thinking about
other places, and some travelled to participate in feminists are not easily put under one label, and the reinforced by violence against women, continue gender' (1987).Just because gender is not made vis-
international conferences. lines of difference and alliance shift over time and even where women are integrated into the ible in many accounts of the world or our lives does
place, the differences between them a ~ important
e workforce. not mean that it b absent What then does a gender
for thinking about gender, and about strategies These clanic lines of difference in feminism are analysis contribute to our understandiig of inter-
The politics of feminism necessaq to overcome gender inequality or less clear these days, and are now supplemented by national and increasinglyglobalized politics?
oppression.
- - naming other feminisms.So in the 19805 bladr and Gender is often used as a code word for women.
Seaond-wave M s m came to prominence in a Very broadly, liberal feminists are equality femin- 'Third World1feminlstr accused white feminists of This does draw our attention to the ways in which
number of Wtem states t k 1.970s,alongside or isss,seekhx- an end to m e n ' s d u s i o n itom or ignoring race,culture, and colonial relations as also dominant groups car1 ~~ormalize or mturalize thrir
in uneasy relations with other social movements for under-representation in office, power, and employ- affecting women. These locate white women in own identities-they name others while remaining
a more inclusive atizenship and social rights. Femi- ment They seek women's equal rights in the mili- ambiguous ways, as oppressed in relation to gender themselves unnamed. But of coune men have gen-
nism had a rather differentrelation to socialist states, tary, including in combat, for they see women's and perhaps class, but privifeged by their member- der too, just as white people are also 'raced', and
whose treatment of women as workers and their 'protection' as a way of keeping them from power, ship of the dominant race and/or culture, and by dominant culture membqs have culture.
support for women working outside the home and their dependence on men as compromising citizenship rights in rich countries. However, geo- An important early second-wave feminist inter-
allowed state leaders to declare that they had solved their claims to full citizenship, which is usually graphic location or social identity cannot predict a vention uiade a distinctionbetween sex and gender.
the woman question. That has made post-cold war understood to include fighting for one's country. person's politics. Some Third World feminists are Sex was seen as biology: we are born male or female.
feminist organizing in these states very difficult, Other feminists are critical of liberal -f as liberal feminists, seeking admission to their state or Gender was seen as a sodal construction: what it
both because of the association of women's rights seekingequality in masculinist institutions on men's profession on equal terms with men, while others are means to be male or female in any particular place or
language wlth state socialism, and because the rush terms. In different ways, they seek to change the socialist or left femLnists who are conceqed to build m e . This distinction was politicallyvery important,
to markmtion and deregulation'of their econ- W t u t i o n s themselves to be women-fciendly. They alliances across dass lines between elite and poorer for women have been badly done by biology, in its
omies swept away many of the gains that had led disagree, however, on what lies at the heaa of the women, for example. Some white feminists also pur- explanations of their inequality or extra burdens as
socialist state women to see Western feminists as problem. So radical feminists see women's sub- sue anti-raast theories and pofitics. natural, an inevitable extension of their child-
'commg from behind'. This helps explain the declin- ordination as universal, though taking Merent Developments within feminism in recent years bearing d&ence. It built on the fact that while
ing numbers of women in parliamentary politics in forms at different times. Some argue women are a have shifted both theory and practical politics, for women's work appeared to be universal, just what
East European states. Generalizing to 'Third World' sex-dass, systematically and everywhere subject to example, post-modern Feminists have added to that work involved, and how sexual difference was
states is even more difticult, given the variety of pre- men's sex-nght, or their claims for access to their growing recognition of differences between women. understood, varied from society to society, group to
colonial, colonial, and post-colonial experiences to bodies, children, and labour. Violence against These shifts have unsettled the category 'woman', group, and over time (see Box 27.1). More recently,
include. women is seen as key to keeping women resourceless raising issues about who speaks for 'women'. Whose Men's Studies have explored the sodal construction
We might describe feminism as a political project and 'in their place'. They also draw attention to experiences as women are not reilected in feminist of masculinities.
to understand and, therefore, to change women's sexuality as politics. knowledge-making and polibcking? There is an The distinction between sex and gender made
inequality, exploitation, or oppression. But any gen- Cultural feminists include those who see women ongoing tension in much feminism between equal- room for a feminist project-for if gender is a social
eralizationsabout feminist politics globally are made as different from men, more nurturing and peaceable ity and difference claims; between trying to build up construction, it can be changed. It has also enabled
even more difficult by the differences within femi- for example. They do not reject 'women's values', as the categorywoman for political purposes; while by- us to explore different meanings of gender. Gender is
588 J A N llNDY PETTMAN GENDER ISSUES 589
existing communist states, where marketbation has many women's juggling between their domestic and women had an average income of $10,376. It also
indudlng
similar e f f e a ~ , removing state provision of their paid work. But it also reilects the construction $ Box 27.2 The export of women from ! has implications for states' standing, as some states
many services that supported working women. They of women workers as cheap labour-or, more accur- $ lndonesia become assodated with servant status. In a further
are reshaping Western states, too, as their govern- ately, as 'labour made cheap'. In many difkrent E complication, the gendered representations of
! According to the lntemational Labour Organintion 1 natlonal difference reinforce earlier colonial and
I,
ments give up on much economicregulation and cut cultures and states, women's labour is seen to be
back on social security and public enterprise. temporary, fillinginbefore mauiage, or supplement- : legal labour migration from Indonesia rose from - racist images of South-East Asian women as exotic
$
These dramatic changes are part of the globaliza- ing husbands' income. At the same time, they are 5,000 during the 1969-74 period to about 650,000 : and sexually available. In this way, the export of
tion of p~oductionand of 'the market'. Wthfn states, ~nthe 1989-94 period. 62.8% went to Saudi Arabia, 7 domestic workers is not so Merent fmm the inter-
seen as 'natwally' good with their hands, patient
19.4% went to Malaysia and 6.3% went to L
they represent a dramatic shift from public to private and docile, and so particularly fitted to do work national purchase of 'mail-order brldes', and the
Singapore.
expenditure, and from state to family, espedally which men w d not tolerate. Assumptions about international sex tourist industry. Women's organ-
women's, responsibilities. We live in times of Mgh women's work means that it is often classified as * Illegal labour migration is reliably thought to add at izations work transnationally to publicize the dan-
unemployment, polarizing wealth within &d unskilled, even where, like saving, it is seen as sldlled least another 500,000 to this number. Wages gers in all these forms of trafficking In women, and
between states, redudng state provision and growing if men do it. In these ways, parficuk consuuctions 6 payableto illegal workers are estimated at one-half to support the women caught up in these traffics.
impovezishment. These are gendered in their a c t s .
Pirst, cut-backs in state services like hedth, educa-
tion, and social security espedalfg affect women's
of femininity enter into the organization of work,
and shape its status and rewards. So women are now
the vast majority of workers on the global assembly
. the wages payableto registeredmigrant workers.
During the 1984-94 period two-thirds of these
migrantwotkws were women working In domestic
Other forms of labour migration are not so obvi-
ously semtalized, though they may also involve
exploitative worWng coxlitions and insecure rights
employment opportunities. Second, women are line, in factories and in export processing zones, d c e s . Women leave high rates of unemployment in relation to both work and residenceor citizenship.
and poverty in rural Indonesia in searcR of wages to
everywhere omhelmingly responsible for family
and household maintenance, and must compensate
where their gender and often their youth help keep
wages down. 1
0
support themselves and their families.
Many migrants move to and take up work in older
industrial cities in Westem states, and do work in
through their own time and labour when (often The Asian econom~ccrisis of the late 199Qs L clothing, textiies, electronics,and information ser-
inadequate) state support is reduced or removed. 1; worsened the situation for Indonesian women as vices for example not so different from that which
Third, the cost of globalization is not evenly spread:
the 'feminization of poverty' refers to the growing
propoxf3on,as well as numbers, of women and their
The export of women
Women or girls come from rural areas into the towns
unemploymentand loweredwages meant many
had to seek work in the informal sector and many b women do in some Third World' states. In condi-
tions of urban decay, high unemployment, and cut-
were forced into prostitution. In times of economic $ backs in public expenditure and services, migrants
chilrtren living in poverty. This is in part a retleaion or cities, into export processing zones or to rnilirary crisis women are often the firstto lose work. B can easily become scapegoats for other people's
of the worldwide trend, so that now between a third base servicing areas, or cross state borders in search 4 International Labour Organization, 1998, h i p l i o n
Pressures & Struduml Olonge: CaseStudy of Indonesia.) 1
troubles. In this way, globaUzatiOn and migration
and a half of all families do not have a male bread-
winner. The gendmed effects of mcturing, then,
of work. They may be their family's only income
earner. This in tum unsettles gen& relations, and
i I b ecome t q e t s in politics against 'outsiders'. Iladsm
marks the boundaries of national belonging, and
amoont to a massive crisis in reproduction. This has gives those women experiences which range from immigrationand citiz* become major political
led UNICEF to identify an invisible adjustment, liberattng to extremely exploitative or downright responsible for domestic labour, even where that issues. In these circumstances, those who are seen as
which is women's responsibility, largely unaided by dangerous. labour is paid for and releases other women to go different often organize in defence of their own
those who allocate resources and wealth elsewhere. Where once the labour migrant was presumed to into paid work. rights, and may use their perceived difference as a
be male (and often was), now about half of all those This traffic in women is big business. Recruitment basis for o~panizing.Instead of reducing differences
outside their country of birth are women. In some agencies, banks, and airlines profit from it. So do the between people, these aspects of globalization
The changing international particular migTant labour flows, women are in the exporting states, in the form of remittances, for appear to heighten Werence and intolerance.
division of labour overwhelming majoriv. Many are domestic workers example, an estimated $3billion per year to the Phil-
and child carers. They are part of a global flow of ippines. This trade contributes to those states' search
Fourth, the changing international division of women from poorer states to wealthier ones, born for hard currency in the face of growing debt pres- Key points
labour is gendered.Transnational corporations go on Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines to Japan, sures, and relieves unemployment at home. It is
the global prowl for cheap labou, which often Hong Kong, and oil-rich Middle East states (see Box therefore unlikely that the home state will act Feminist critiques, women's NGOs and the Decade
means women's labour (Enloe 1992). Especially 27.2), and from Central and South American states strongly in support of their citizens' rights when for Women helped generate 'Women in Develop
since the 19805, increasingly competitive trading into the United States. This labour migration was women are subject to abuse in other states; though
and labour deregulation in many states has accom-
panied the rise of a largely female marginalized
workforce, with a core of skilled and professional
largely unnoticed until the Gulf War revealed some
400,000 Asian women workers in Kuwait and a fur-
ther 100,000 in Iraq. There are between l and 1.7
another factor is their own poor record in labour and
women's rights.
This trade in women reflects power and wealth
. ment' (WID).
WID injudes very different approaches to gender
and development.
workers who are mainly male. million women in the domestic worker trade from relations globally. Those South-East Asian states Recent crises assodated with intensifying global-
Women are concentrated in poorly paid work, South and South-East Asia alone. This trade exporting domestic workers had an average annual ization and restructuring impact on women in
includmg part-time and outwork. This partly reflects reinforces the assumption that it is women who are income in 1992 of $680, while those importing particular, generating a aisis in reproduction.
GENDER ISSUES 593
* The ' W R of worn& is big business, an8 also r hQpnts and foreign woEkers are often mpe-
mtzltmts s l m m t l y remittances to goated for M g w - and sodal Box 27.3 Women a t the peace table
pOoter states' elmnomics. distress.
In canRict and war women bear gmt m s p d l i i for W m &an take the lead In dPIleloping grass-mots
the physical, @ducatiml, and e m m i c welt-king of movements to bring about peace because the men are
thdr fsmllks, for &rig for the wounded, for matntaining away fIghUng In Northem Inland [fsws arch as child-
the national economy. They have also ban increasingly caw gdUaltlbn, hlth, and miao-entarprlre- brought
Gender and nationalism tageted as weopons of war as they am raw,f o ~ e dinto
rmaisge, abduclfa and attadred. However women are
wmrm tagether-Catholic and Pmtestant-to co-
-in rcsdvingshad pro$lems. I t w a s h here
notbwitedtottw!tanseandfMkaPtm@athnsfor that women came to launch a powerful campaign to
peace. Indeed the culture of mlnhrrkm so present durktg bring about peace and be induded in the peswprows.
While we do now live in 'the world as r whole' fox Where the nation is kmtntzed, men are the ' con~kttendrto rei- gender- . nrmwwr graEHootr women's o q m k a k m came -
d i s u ~ ~ l iIn~ n 7he
some puqoses, we also We in a world where differ- iqonsible protectors. But women have obiigatio~~~ spite of redstance to their partkipnth women are devel- together to pditicize ard form the Mortlwn Idand
ence and pamcular political identfties are as bport- to the nation, too. Ifere we can trace a move k m oping rtFateglesfor their volces to be heard at the psace Women's Coalitbn.
ant as ever-perhaps more SD. This can be seenin the nation-as-woman to women as mothexs-of-the- table. fhey fom, community gmups and non- Sustaining peace requires commitmentfrOm people at
renugerm of mtionahms and ethno-nationdims nation.This symbolic use of women and their con- ': government organizations that campaign and lobby the the grass roots, it is tJwy who muit build lasting reconcili-
and the lrise of revlmht of A m d a m e u e rdighus hnement within roles as mothers caa mean the q paace and inttrrra-1 forums.Their WategTes ation and peace. The i r n r d v m of wonaen h, peace ,
politics Wbally. These idenfity pdutics usually d l policing of their bodies and behaviour, in have been crea6ve-in the Philippii wwnen initiated negorSations tea& to ensuring a peace agreement that
for a return to an fraaginedpast.Women's roles and waaime or in times of heightened identity : peaceromr to pmtecttheir childrenfmm by buildsWing pace at all levels.
? the militias and the anny. (United Nations DavakpmcorFundfor Women),
gender rddtl011~ a kcy &&lent in she ~OllShc- contlfcts.
2000, YYIDnsen ot lhe &a@Tabk.
tkmofthepastandLnthepolitkalmo~tionof
these identities.
Women and nationalism
how eve^, in some states women fnrm dominant rape and of ndlitay sexual .&pay in %rid War 11,
Cendered nationalism W w n m are seen as the physical r q m h c e m ~f the n a t i o n a l L n t g r o u p 5 a r s t a t e s h a v e ~ f n n r p thesewerenotpmecutedaswx~.Therecent
n a t l o ~they are 'nationalfst wombs' @nloe 1989). portforotherwomen.lnaellWbmeninBlackdun- visfbiltyofsexualviolenceaspartofwar,es~
Since the end of the cold war, there has been an ap Thismakesitimpomntthatthathavethg~t onstratedin suppmt of Palesthian warnen, and W inteimsofthefonner~butalsoofthe
surge in identity conflicts. Nathmikm is mmttliq &&ken, with theright men. They are also seen as grade Pemlnfsts also danon&itd as Women in Korean and othm South-EasE A s l a women W b l y
the p m e d coincidenceof nation and state. While socirtl r-cers and c u l t l d transmitters, bring- Black against Serbiaa ~~aggmslon. These &ted in to Japaeese military brothels in WozM
inthe past nationalismwasmOTeassocWedwithpr6- ing up their children as Palestinian for example, warnen haw been subjjed to much threat and Wax~,is~duetofeministworkwithin5tateSlto
@ve politics, & example in antialoriird even-or especially-if they do not have a state of som- violence, for their loyalty is supposed to rape and other violence against w o r n as
natiomhn, nowadays it f often cast in exdusivist theirown.Womenarealsoseazas~ersofctlf- be to their wmmmUyl and not to women, OI people crimes against women, not against the honour of
terms against 'the OW. In the process, women get femme, mad&g the boundaries of belongtog. For mole gcwrally. At thesameW e , the idea of Women men,It is also a sign of globalizing gender issues,
caughtupinnatimalistpoIIticsin dijbentways, and this reason, inuch ~ c to wom-
~ is attached e in Bladr has been taken up in many statrr experi- especially in the fannof wmnen's rights' datms.
identity politics m e to impart on -d@r relatiom. en's dothing and movements, espedany their d a - endngn?tionabtviolence, in exprrssionsof solida~-
The language of nati0mli-m is familirl tiom with those oaaMe the nation. Beyond the with women aaoss nattanakt W s (see Box
language-home, blood, kin. The state i s often symbolicuses made of them, women are also agents 27.3). Key poim
imagined as male, and the nation as female. The inoragainst~aUo~poUticsintbeirown~ight The high wc a-ed in Nationalism is usually called up in gendered
nation is often represented as a woman under tkeat It is easier f
a women to mobilize in ~ u p p r of t community con&icts maW them swcepttble to Ian-
of violation or domination, so that he^ atfzen-som nationallst causes, if this came b in power in their
must fightfor her honour. Thg 'rape of Kuwait' told a state or w o n . Some women do organtre In move-
typical story-of a feminized viaim, with male vil- ments that are dangerous for orhen, indudhg other
z m f r men
-1e
o m ~ , ~r ~ C ~ " , ~ a r ~*e
to attad h m on tflp oaet side, as
* ~ o m mget caught up in natio-
-con*ction as Of the
w cs in
mack;ers Bfdmzencc.
lain and male hem f@ting for her possession. These women. So there are many women supporters and way of gefaug at th& men. So mass tape h war and
stories assodate boundary transgressionwith sexual some leaders of the Indim tight-wing Hindu move- identity ronfllctg is not ody war spoils. It is also n Women also m d p a t e in OppoJe natim
danger, and also wadate proving manhood with ment, and some of these women parttdpated in vio- wat stratw ahed 2t h t d l W q the enanymentrg @tfa-
natio- and W ~ LIn these ways, regardless of lence against Muslim w o w and children. Many showtngthegaxe unable to their women. Women's symbolic -cance in natbaljm
what actual men and women are do& men become Serbian women supported the Submn nationalist War ngr has a longhlstory, though it is not w- makes vulnerable to ~OIeme,indudtngwar
the agents of nationaIism and women passive or project, which involved systematic violence against ally Rgarded as political. So despite evidence of mass rape.
national possessions. women as part of 'ethnic.-
d
GENDER ISSUES 595
594 JAN JINDY PLTTMAN
--;-
- ..-- -- - 7- .iT- J-.- -_.L.-Z--~--=-----
--
opposes; female genital mutilation maims and often generated webs of connection between women's 1994 Cairo International'&nference on 1 f! To date (early ZW},
least a 30 per ceiUshare of decision-makingpositions.
only six countria have achieved
kills girl children and women in some North AM- NGOs a a m state borders. Populationand Development 4
agpmXmte gender equality in -dory Khool
can states. In recentyears, women's activism has impacted on 1995 BeijingWomen's Conference enroiment plus at leasto 30percentshore for women of
2
other kinds of international conferences. At the 1992
Earth Summit for example women named gender as
! seats in porlIament a&&&ures PIUS on approximate
E share of nearfy 5B per cent paid employment in mn-
Transnational women's movements shaping relations with the environment, induding og"hd s- activitia.
women's pdary responsibilitiesfor fuel and water huge problems with implementatton, but this dec- 1 The targets from the conference5 foars on closing
In some states, women are subjected to bodily vio- in much of the world. They alsoidentifiedmilitarism
lence through forced contraception or abortion, as
in the China one-child policy. Many poor, radalized,
as the cause of much environmental degradation.
The 1993 Human Rights conferencewas even more
laration does politicize v i o b c e against women, and
give states formal responsibility for the secmity of
women.
i:
gender inequality in education and health, however
the c d c e s failed to endorse targets related to
women's poverty and economic inequality. It is hoped
and minority women in Westem states face dis- significant in &$lighting women's rights claims Over 30,000women attended the NGO forum at 3 thatthese Issues wi# be addreaed in the next Platform
crimination and lack of care in terms of health and internationally. In the lead-up to the conference, a Huairoou, which ran paidel to the offidal fourth of Action to be developed.
social choices. There is now an international wom- series of pparatory committees and regional wom- international women's conference in Beijing in
F (UNIFEM (United Natmm D d p m e n t Fund for
en's health movement, which struggles with differ- en's NGO meetings made their c o n m visible. The wmmlen), Biennial Report 2000 (m), Pqm of the
1995.In many states and in regional meetings, there W d ' s Women )
ent state policies and practices, and different views Bangkok (Asia-Pacific)regional forum identified five was a process of consultation which w~ in
within women's NGOs and outside them, over how priority issues to take to Vienna.These were vio- the Platform for Action, which identified 12 crucial , . . - - 7 - - z _ _----- - -
to secure women's sexuality and reproductive rights. lence against women, the intemational traffic in areas and strategiesfor pursuing them (see Fig. 27.2).
'Third World' women point out that these must go women, rising fundamentalisms (which usually tar- The conference recognized the disproportionate
beyond ~ndividualrights, to ensure enabling condi- get women's rights), military rape as a crime, and costs to women of restructuring. It also witnessed Key points
tions to access choice, including maternal and child women's reproductive rights. reactions against women's rights which meant that
health more generally. The 1994 international con- Women's global political campaigns helped win much effort went into defendingearlier gains. Of the There are now diierent transnational women's
ference on population and development in Cairo the adoption of the UN General Assembly Declar- themes of equality, development,and peace, the first movements, for example, for women's health and
was aucial in mobilizing women and building ation against Violence against Women in 1993.This took priority, though the NGO forum especially rec- reproductive rights.
regional and global linkages. But even rhetorical represents a significant advance in global gender ognized the intmnnectiom here. International conferences, especially women's
gains are at risk in these backlash days. And there is issues. It recognizes violence as gender-based, sup- conferences,have been very important in building
no easy unity or single political position on t h e ported by structural conditions which include wom- transnational women's networks, and in putting
issues among women either. en's subordination, and calls on states to punish women's issues on the global agenda.
perpetrators of violence whether in public or private
places. It rejects religion or culture as excuses to
abuse or discriminate against women. There are still
GENDER ISSUES 597
Conclusion
l Mission
statement
Gender is a relevant category for analysis in global to act in support of a global response. At the same
politics. Globakation affects women somewhat dif- time, both global restru-g and rise right-wing
ferently from men, though how it does so also identity politics threaten hard-won gains, and in
depends on women's other identitles and interests. turn generate more women's activism. Now women
In times of intensifying globabation which affects are organizing transnationally, and gender issues are
everyone, the state is no longer either willing or able globallzingin the process.
QUESTIONS
// ?;G; \
B. Education A measure of how
1 Why did feminism come so late to International Relations?
Aous governments 2 What difference does it make to ask the question 'Where are the women?' about
women global politics?
Built-in implementation!
3 What difference does it make being female, or male, in your experience?
Recently, there has been a new visibility of example of global feminism in action, while for
women's lights claims. others it illustrated the diiculties facing women's GUIDE TO FURTHER READING
s The Beijing conference is seen by some as an *ghtssrngglesglobaN~.
General
Beckman, P., and D'Amico, F. (eds.), Wornen, Gender arid WorIdPolitiCT:Perspectives, Policies and
Prospects (Wenport, Corn.:Bergin & Gervey, 1994).This text pursues the question 'Does
gender matter in world politics?' through the study of world politics and polides.
Enloe, C., Bananas, Bases and Beaches: Mnking Fminist Seirse ofI~rtPmationalPolitics (London,
Pinter, 1989).This book asks 'Where are the women?' and reveals them in many different
roles in international politics, in militarles, in export produdon, in prostitution and the
Sex trade, and in diplomacy.
Nelson, B., and Chowdhuiy, N. (eds.), WomenandPolitics Worldwide (Newhaven: Yale
University Press, 1994). This useful resource book begins with overview chapters about
women's different experiences of politics, and then has a number of chapten about
women's partidpation in politics in different countries.
Petenon, V.S., and Runyan, A. S., Gidral Genderlsstles,2nd ed. (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press,
1999). This text analyses gender in global politics, the gendered divisions of paver,
violence, and labour; and the politics of resistance, including women's politics.
Pemnan, J. J., Woddmg Womm: A PendnistIntmdoiznI Politics (London: Routledge, 1996).In
this book, I explore aspects of global politics only briefly touched on in this chapter. It is
organizedin three sections: the gendered politics of identities, of war and peace, and of the
internationalpolitical economy.
Sen, G., and Grown, C., Development, Crires andAltemative V&iom:Third World Women's
Pffs@ves (NewYork Monthly Review Press, 1987). Thls is a brlef but broad-ranging review
of the gendered impact of debt, dependence, and exploitation in Third World countries,
and women's responses to these challenges.
Stems, J., Gender miiI?rternntional Relations, (Cambridge, Polity Press, 1998).An accessible
wloration of feminist critiaw in International Relations, and gender analysis of
nationahm, war,security, international political economy and development.
llckner, A., Gender in I n - d Relations (New York: Columbia University hess, 1992). A
careful feminist critique of mainstream IR approaches to security, international political
economy, and ecology.
WEB LINKS
www.unifem.undp.org The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) works
to ensure the participation of women in development planning and practice.
www.law-lib.utomnto.ca international Human Rights Database (DINA) is a comprehensive
database of elechontc materials for human rights research.
www.un.org/womenwatch Women Watch: an Internet gateway for the advancement and
empowerment of women.