Title: Gender, sex, and the postnational defense : militarism and peacekeeping /
Authors: Kronsell, Annica
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Women and war; Peacekeeping forces Women.; Peace-building Women.; Women and peace.; Militarism Social aspects.; Women and the military European Union countries.; Peacekeeping forces.; Peace-building; Militarism.; Sweden Armed Forces Women.; Sweden Armed Forces Afghanistan.
Abstract: Scholars have argued that the end of the Cold War and the War on Terror have radically changed the context of war and defense, diminished the role of nation-states in favor of multi-lateral defense activities, and placed a new focus on human security. International peacekeeping has superseded the traditional act of war-making as the most important defense strategy among wealthy, liberal-democratic nations. And, per UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, all member nations must consider the needs of women and girls during repatriation, resettlement, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This work looks at the way that a postnational defense influenced by SC 1325 and focused on human security affects gender relations in militaries. Interestingly, despite the successful implementation of gender mainstreaming in training, the number of women involved in military peacekeeping remains low. Employing a feminist constructivist institutional approach, the author questions whether military institutions can ever attain gender neutrality without confronting their reliance on masculinity constructs. She further questions whether "feminism" must always be equated with anti-militarism or if military violence committed in the name of enhancing human security can be performed according to a feminist ethics. She builds her theoretical argument on a case study of Sweden and the E.U. Contradicting much of the gender mainstreaming literature, the author shows that increasing gender awareness in the military is a more achievable task than increasing gender parity.
Contents: Mothers, soldiers, and nation in the 'neutral' defense -- Gender, sexuality, and institutions of hegemonic masculinity -- The postnational defense and the cosmopolitan military -- Postnational peacekeeping and the construction of sex and gender -- Defense and military governance in the European Union.