Border crossings and sexual conquest in the age of neoliberalism in the Sonoran Desert

This article examines the liminal space of the desert borderlands as a scene of routinized sexualized and gendered violence against migrant women border crossers. We explore the human consequences of a philosophy of attrition that is the cornerstone of the US immigration system. Using border sexual conquest and the coloniality of power as lenses, we examine how global neoliberalism represents a form of contemporary conquest that normalizes sexual and gendered violence at transnational locations.     

Feminist Readings on Abu Ghraib: Introduction

This article examines feminist responses to mainstream media coverage of female terrorists in West Germany during 1977. Women in left-wing terrorist groups like the Red Army Faction (RAF) and ‘Movement 2. June’ (‘Bewegung 2. Juni’) inspired a gendered discourse reflecting a cultural unease about women participating in political violence, in which the media propagated notions that posited female terrorists as ‘unnatural’ women. This analysis demonstrates how different ‘Alltagstheorien’ (everyday or common sense theories) on female terrorists we find in West German media publications in the 1970s and 1980s served as a springboard for West German feminist activists to examine arguments about violence as legitimate means in their own political communities. This essay begins by briefly outlining key feminist positions on political violence that have made invisible the complex debates taking place in the 1970s. The second part of the essay uses images of female terrorists circulated by the West German media, such as the newsmagazine Der Spiegel (The Mirror), to contextualize the ‘Alltagstheorien’ the magazine propagated in an article covering RAF actions in 1977. The third and main part of the essay then examines the responses this and other articles elicited from contemporaneous feminist movement publications.     

Debating Eco/Feminist Natures

This article discusses the experiences in municipal politics of indigenous women in Oaxaca, Mexico. The data base includes in-depth interviews with the eighteen women who have been elected mayor since 1995, when the Government of Oaxaca legally recognized indigenous self-government. By looking at the women as in/outsiders of their own culture, the article examines the ways in which they question various components of the indigenous autonomous project as well as the performance of western political institutions such as political parties and the educational system. Women's views go beyond the tradition/modernity dichotomy, where tradition is associated with backward, patriarchal institutions and modernity with progress and gender equality. Both tradition and modernity are redefined in order to identify the elements that may contribute to gender equality in the indigenous self-government project of Mexico.     

‘Why Do All the Women Disappear?’ Gendering Processes in a Political Science Department

The article provides an in‐depth analysis of the gendering processes among PhD candidates in a political science department. It uses Joan Acker's theory of gendered organizations operating through four dimensions: the gendered division of labour, gendered interaction, gendered symbols and gendered interpretations of one's position in the organization. The article combines this approach with theories of hidden discrimination. The key theoretical aim is to contribute to gendered organizational theory by examining the ways in which hidden discrimination and the gendered organization work together. This generates detailed and differentiated knowledge about the mechanisms of hidden discrimination that produce gender inequalities in the department. The findings presented in this article point to the role of gendered division of labour and the lack of information about departmental practices. PhD supervision by men is a particularly strong structural barrier for women because of the gendered nature of interaction in supervision and the difficulties that female PhD students have in a male‐dominated environment. The article further contributes to debates on gendered organizations by focusing upon the gendered symbols of expertise in political science. These symbols reproduce the man as the political scientist norm and result in women interpreting their own position as marginal or as outsiders.     

The gendered contours of North Korean Migration: sexualized bodies and the violence of phenotypical normalization in South Korea

This article examines the gendered and sexualized contours of North Korean experiences in South Korea at a time when nearly 70% of the North Korean emigrants are women. South Korean television shows – e.g. reality programs – and marriage matchmaking organizations seek to portray North Korean women in a ‘positive’ way to the South Korean public, although, as this article will illustrate, these representations are of a very particular, sexualized kind. These representations are sometimes negative, and there is stigma attached to North Korean women, in which South Koreans assume, for example, that they are victims of human trafficking or that they have had relations with Chinese men during their migration. Furthermore, poor nutrition and other forms of structural violence in North Korea have molded North Korean bodies; there are often physical disparities between North and South Koreans. In South Korean society where short height is viewed as undesirable and where idealized, surgical notions of beauty dominate, the violence of gendered phenotypical normalization mark North Korean bodies as smaller, foreign, and strange. Based on ethnographic research in South Korea, this article argues that these gendered contours of North Korean migration amount to a different sort of structural violence in South Korea.     

Imag(in)ing Women's Agency

The use of images is central to Amnesty International's 2004 campaign ‘Stop Violence against Women’. Looking at how Amnesty International uses images to show women's agency reveals a conflation of the terms sex and gender. Despite its best efforts, Amnesty International's goal of empowering women ultimately remains out of reach because it fails to read violence against women in a gendered context. Through interviews and analyses of the images, this article claims that Amnesty International's concept of agency is trapped in a heterosexist, masculinist grammar that perpetuates non-agential articulations of women in human rights discourse. This article offers an alternative reading of gender and agency that contextualizes violence, opening up spaces in human rights discourse to begin to look at what causes individuals to resort to violence and at how violence may be perpetrated because of the presence of particular genders.     

Belonging: women living with intellectual disabilities and experiences of domestic violence

Women with an intellectual disability are under-represented in domestic violence research, yet they are one of the most vulnerable groups who are at risk of violence and abuse. This article aims to contribute to the domestic violence field by reporting on a narrative dialogic performative study, which utilised a feminist poststructural perspective to explore significant relationships and the concept of belonging in the lives of women with a mild intellectual disability. Four in-depth narrative interviews were conducted. The study found that the women shared similar stories of devaluation and rejection in childhood and hence the women’s search for belonging contributed to their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse in domestic violence relationships. The paper argues that gendered discourses and constructions of intellectual disability regulate domestic violence as a personal problem or way of life for women with intellectual disabilities.     

Making a murderer: The importance of gender and violence against women in mass murder events

This article examines sex, gender, and gender violence (e.g., dating/domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking) as related to mass murder events. Specifically, the paper explores (a) sex/gender and mass murder and (b) violence against women prior to and directly associated with mass murder events. A multidimensional framework guided by critical feminist thought is presented to offer a nuanced approach to understanding offending. The paper argues that mass murder, a gendered phenomenon, is a way by which some individuals “do gender,” an expression of aggrieved entitlement and representation of toxic masculinity resulting from the collision of individual, relational, community, and cultural forces that impact perpetrator attitudes, decisions, and behavior. The paper advances knowledge by drawing attention to men's violence against women preceding mass murder events, one of the most common yet overlooked risk factors. Other gendered aspects are also discussed. In all, findings suggest that sexist beliefs/norms stemming from gender role expectations in patriarchal cultures are reinforced by male peer support and institutional failures that fuel violence against women and mass murder events. Thus, if we are to tackle the issue of mass murder, we need to take the lived experiences of women and girls more seriously and work on gendered‐oriented and gender‐informed solutions.     

Violence against women—social services support during legal proceedings

Social workers and social work have been criticized for failing to address violence against women in adequate ways, of blaming the victim and failing to recognize domestic violence as a problem. At the same time, it is the social services that are responsible for support to abused women, according to amendments in the Social Services Act (2001). This article examines abused women’s own experiences of support in connection with the police investigation of domestic violence. It is a qualitative study with six women who all have received support from the Relationship Violence Center (RVC) in Stockholm. The main findings in the article suggest that support in connection with the judicial process is important. Women’s earlier experiences or preconceptions of the social services might prevent them from accepting support or turning to the social services for help.     

Postnational acts of citizenship: how an anti-border politics is shaping feminist spaces of service provision in Toronto,Canada

Postnationalism has seen a modest resurgence in recent years as both a theory of citizenship and as a set of claims frequently articulated by anti-border movements. Yet the implications of postnationalism for feminist politics remain relatively under-theorized. Using interviews with feminist advocates in Toronto, Canada, this research examines how postnational challenges to state power are being mobilized in spaces of service provision addressing gender-based violence. I show how, for some advocates, a postnational politics deeply informed their critiques of state borders and restrictive immigration controls as fundamental sources of gendered and racialized violence. However, postnational approaches were also limited in offering few concrete alternatives to state protection from domestic or interpersonal violence, particularly for women with precarious immigration status. Significantly, it was through advocates’ everyday practices of service provision that they blueprinted an alternative feminist ethics of solidarity. I argue that these practices constitute postnational acts of citizenship, in so far as they attempt – albeit imperfectly – to de-border institutional spaces from within.     

To what extent are the indigenous women of Jharkhand,India living in disadvantageous conditions: findings from India's National Family Health Survey 1

Indigenous populations are the most marginalized and vulnerable communities in India, constituting 8.2% of India's total population, four times larger than the total population of Australia. The state of Jharkhand accounts for 27.7% of the total indigenous population of India. This paper compares the health and socio-economic and demographic indicators among indigenous and non-indigenous women in Jharkhand in terms of ‘disadvantage ratio’, by exploring the data of 1614 ever-married women (women who are currently married or who have been married at some point in their lives) from India's second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), conducted during 1998–99. The study revealed that the indigenous women of Jharkhand were highly disadvantaged in terms of socio-demographic, family planning, and important aspects of maternal health and nutrition compared to non-indigenous women. They were not only disadvantaged within the state in different parameters, but also across the indigenous female population of India as a whole. The findings call for urgent implementation of special health care strategies for reducing health and socio-economic/demographic disparities among the indigenous population of Jharkhand. ¹This paper was presented at the PAA Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan, USA during April 29–May 2. This paper is part of the thematic cluster Global Health Beyond 2015 - more papers from this cluster can be found at http://www.globalhealthaction.netView all notes     

Planning Other Families: Negotiating Population and Identity Politics in the Peruvian Amazon

This article examines the ways in which globally driven population policies are experienced by rural, indigenous women in Amazonian communities on the periphery of formal, political power. As with other global development processes, population programs are actively resisted, accepted, and modified by the women who are their intended "targets." Through a nuanced exploration of the interface of indigenous identity with the discourse of empowerment and reproductive rights, this article traces the impact of internationally funded population and development programs on local identity politics in the Peruvian Amazon.     

Older and Isolated Women and Domestic Violence Project

ABSTRACT

An innovative national research project was undertaken in Australia to identify and explore the needs of older and isolated women who live with domestic violence. Face to face interviews, focus groups, and a national phone-in were conducted, and a wealth of rich information was provided by many women from metropolitan, rural and isolated areas. Older women from indigenous, non-indigenous, and diverse language and cultural communities spoke of their experiences as well as women with varying abilities and those with mental health problems. This paper will identify the significant themes that emerged from the phone-in and will highlight the major issues identified by older women needing attention by government authorities, health professionals, and service providers. Recommendations will be made for policy development, improved service provision, and prevention strategies.     

Revisiting IR in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

The sense of crisis, fueled by military conflicts, the failures of neoliberal globalization and ecological degradation, is everywhere. Neoconservative agendas and cuts in educational spending are shrinking space for critical thinking necessary for understanding the impacts of these crises on ordinary people's lives. This article examines some indigenous responses to these various crises. It reexamines IR's Westphalia triumphalist narrative about the origins of the nation-state system from the perspective of those who suffered the consequences of European expansion. Emphasizing the importance of rewriting their histories, indigenous peoples are offering very different models of world order and ways of life that are more sensitive to resource and ecological constraints. Although indigenous women have a complex relationship with feminism, indigenous knowledge is strikingly similar to certain feminist thinking. Indigenous epistemologies are hermeneutic and reflexive, seeking to uncover hidden histories and new knowledge from those whose voices have rarely been heard. The article outlines some visions of world order and national sovereignty offered by indigenous peoples in Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Central and North America, demonstrating parallels with feminist thought. It concludes by reflecting on obstacles, similar to those faced by feminists, standing in the way of alternative forms of knowledge being taken seriously by the discipline of International Relations.     

SASA! Together: An evolution of the SASA! approach to prevent violence against women

One in three women globally will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) with devastating consequences for individual survivors, their families and communities. While prevalence remains high, violence against women is not inevitable and community mobilization approaches have emerged as particularly promising for transforming the gender inequitable norms and practices that underlie violence. The SASA! Activist Kit to Prevent Violence Against Women (SASA!), developed by Raising Voices in 2008, provides a theory-based approach for mobilizing communities to transform power imbalances between women and men through critical discussion and positive action. In this article, we provide the rational for revising SASA! after ten years of program learning and formal research. We aim to contribute to the knowledge base around what works to prevent IPV by describing the core enhancements in the revised version--called SASA! Together—and linking these changes to Raising Voices’ program learning and broader advancements in the field. In addition, we reflect on how current debates—such as how best to “scale up” violence prevention programs—were considered and resolved in SASA! Together. The paper concludes by sharing lessons learned that may provide guidance for future revisions development and revisions of evidenced-based programs.     

Gendered experiences of physical restraint on locked wards for women

Physical restraint is used in inpatient services for people with intellectual disabilities as a way of holding a person to avoid injury. This article uses data from an ethnographic study in a locked unit in the north of England to explore women’s experiences of physical restraint using a feminist disability studies analysis. Data consists of field notes as well as interviews with 16 of the women who had experienced restraint, and 10 staff who worked with them. The women gave insights into the gendered phenomenon of restraint in light of their past experiences of violence. The authors argue that restraint is used with women to encourage passivity at times when more relational and therapeutic methods could be used. The article offers recommendations for alternative strategies that services can encourage.     

The “male” privilege of White women,the “White” privilege of Black women,and vulnerability to violence: an intersectional analysis of Peace Corps workers in host countries

This article is an intersectional analysis of race, gender, and nationality in development work. Using interview, document, and observational data, I situate this inquiry in the context of US women’s work in the Peace Corps, an organization within a field marked by colonialism. I find that White women and women of color have similar and yet instructively different experiences of their gendered identities in field sites, because race and gender differently affect their identities and relative privilege abroad. Specifically, White women volunteers are often afforded some degree of “male” privilege because of their race (though their race may render them vulnerable to sexual violence), while some volunteers of color are afforded a degree of “White” privilege because of their nationality (although their race may also render them vulnerable to violence). However, because the Peace Corps does not challenge conventional race and gender privileges, it lacks the organizational orientation and capacity to effectively address safety and assault among its women volunteers.     

Gendering the Organization of Home‐based Work in Turkey: Classical versus Familial Patriarchy

This article examines the link between industrial homework and family dynamics in Turkey by asking how and why varied patterns emerge in the organization of industrial homework. I develop a framework for the analysis of gendered organization of industrial homework by comparing labour practices in extended family and nuclear family households. In extended family households, subcontracts are made between industrial enterprises and male family members. Women carry out piece‐rated work at home under the supervision of male family members and have very little contact with people outside their family. In nuclear family households, subcontracts are made between women homeworkers and industrial enterprises or middle persons. Women work at residential streets and neighbourhood homework stores, as well as at home. They have control over their income as well as their working hours. To explain the divergent practices of industrial homework, I show that enterprises incorporate distinct patterns of patriarchy into the subcontracting arrangements through gendered organization of industrial homework.     

A gendered lens for building climate resilience: Narratives from women in informal work in Leh,Ladakh

In this paper, we critically examine the gendered impacts of climatechange related extreme events upon workers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Climate change impacts disproportionately affect the livelihoods of women engaged in informal work like weaving from their homes and street vending. Existing research suggests that women are more likely to be among the most vulnerable in such extreme events as well as are vital agents to develop climate resilience within their communities. We draw upon unique quantitative and qualitative data to critically examine the lived experiences of female informal workers from Leh, Ladakh (India). Drawing on the work of Duchek (2020),  we explore how women informal workers navigate their daily strategies of anticipating, coping, and adapting toward climate change. From this analysis, we offer novel empirical evidence about gendered climate resilience and suggest broad recommendations for building climate resilience within mountain communities.     

Policing “conjugal order”: gender,hybridity and vernacular security in Fiji

ABSTRACT

This article develops a feminist critique of debate on hybrid forms of governance in global politics by demonstrating the gendered implications (and limitations) of hybridized approaches to security provision. The conceptual approach that frames my enquiry puts arguments advancing the benefits of multilayered and hybridized security into dialogue with ethnographic enquiry on “vernacular” security and feminist study of “conjugal order.” I contend that this conceptual approach is particularly productive for examining the gendered policing outcomes that can be produced in environments where vernacular influences – customary and religious – inflect prevailing idioms of security and order. To further defend this claim, I apply this conceptual approach to a case study of gender and policing in Fiji. Although there has been a strong state rhetoric of progressive reform on gender policy in this context, efforts to reform policing have been hamstrung by longstanding customary and religious discourses that emphasize the defense of conjugal norms as foundational to the achievement of order and safety. I show how this scenario has encouraged a practical policing of gender and sexuality that is restrictive for women generally and may expose particular groups of women to direct forms of insecurity and violence.