Feminist Theory in International Relations
International relations studies political, social and economic relations among the nations of the world. A variety of theoretical perspectives exist, but some feminist scholars claim these frameworks ignore the role of gender in such issues as war and peace, international economics and human rights. They advocate an approach to international relations that considers gender issues and the contributions of women.
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Theories/Speculation
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The online International Relations Knowledge Base describes feminist theory as a perspective that explores how and whether we think about gender in the area of international relations. This involves a feminist perspective on war, peace, international economics, human rights and other international relations issues. Feminist theory examines how gender impacts and is impacted by these issues.
Function
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Feminist theorists contend that traditional international relations theories have ignored the role of gender, preferring instead to examine the roles of military and political figures. They contend that this framework assigns women to domestic roles, ignoring their contributions to issues of international politics and world affairs.
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History
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A 2004 paper by Annick T.R. Wibben, then a Watson Fellow at Brown University, notes that international relations was one of the last academic fields to open itself to a feminist perspective. A series of books published in the 1980s and 1990s, including J. Ann Tickner's "Gender in International Relations" and Cynthia Enloe's "Bananas, Beaches and Bases", first brought feminist theories into international relations. Wibben added, however, that as early as the 1960s, feminist peace researchers pushed for a feminist perspective on such issues as war and peace, subjects often studied in international relations.
Features
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Wibben's 2004 paper, published in "The Brown Journal of World Affairs," identified various approaches to injecting feminist thought into international relations. One examines the role of women in international issues. This approach highlights women's contributions to world affairs and contends that traditional international relations thought has ignored the work of women. A second use of feminist theory asks how gender shapes key concepts and ideas studied by international relations, such as conflict, diplomacy, human rights and economic globalization. A third approach, which Wibben terms "feminist international relations," emphasizes shaping the world into a better place for women, reducing gender inequality worldwide.
Effects
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Wibben points out that one of feminist theory's greatest contributions to international relations has been in the area of human rights, especially sexual violence. Examples of gender-specific violence include the global trafficking in women as prostitutes and the mass rape of women during the conflicts in Bosnia and the Darfur region of western Sudan.
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References
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