Refugees, Women, and Weapons
Refugees, Women, and Weapons

Author: Petrice R. Flowers

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2009-07-24

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0804772363

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In a world dominated by considerations of material and security threats, Japan provides a fascinating case for why, and under what conditions, a state would choose to adopt international norms and laws that are seemingly in direct conflict with its domestic norms. Approaching compliance from within a constructivist framework, author Petrice R. Flowers analyzes three treaties—addressing refugee policy, women's employment, and the use of land mines—that Japan has adopted. Refugees, Women, and Weapons probes how international relations and domestic politics both play a role in constructing state identity, and how state identity in turn influences compliance. Flowers argues that, although state desire for legitimacy is a key factor in norm adoption, to achieve anything other than a low level of compliance requires strong domestic advocacy. She offers a comprehensive theoretical model that tests the explanatory power of two understudied factors: the strength of nonstate actors and the degree to which international and domestic norms conflict. Flowers evaluates how these factors, typically studied and analyzed individually, interact and affect one another.

The Impact of Guns on Women's Lives
The Impact of Guns on Women's Lives

Author:

Publisher: Oxfam

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9780862103682

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Presents an intergovernmental report on various types of gun violence against women, including case studies. Includes suggested remedies and information on pending treaties.

Excluded from the Record
Excluded from the Record

Author: Katherine Storr

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9783039118557

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"This study reveals women's hitherto ignored lives as refugees and relief workers during the First World War and shortly after. The focus is on coping with and changing the devastating effects of war on civilians, rather than the fighting of it ... The connection between these women in humanitarian relief is explored, together with the significance of imperialism and national identity. Experience of charity work, suffrage campaigning, relief in previous wars, and personal friendship networks were all important. A geographical overview of these wartime activities provides insight into European civilian experience. The ideological and historical roots of relief work are traced and connections are made with the establishment of new NGOs and the League of Nations"--Jacket.

Women and Wars
Women and Wars

Author: Carol Cohn

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-09-04

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0745675867

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Where are the women? In traditional historical and scholarly accounts of the making and fighting of wars, women are often nowhere to be seen. With few exceptions, war stories are told as if men were the only ones who plan, fight, are injured by, and negotiate ends to wars. As the pages of this book tell, though, those accounts are far from complete. Women can be found at every turn in the (gendered) phenomena of war. Women have participated in the making, fighting, and concluding of wars throughout history, and their participation is only increasing at the turn of the 21st century. Women experience war in multiple ways: as soldiers, as fighters, as civilians, as caregivers, as sex workers, as sexual slaves, refugees and internally displaced persons, as anti-war activists, as community peace-builders, and more. This book at once provides a glimpse into where women are in war, and gives readers the tools to understood women’s (told and untold) war experiences in the greater context of the gendered nature of global social and political life.

More Bang for the Buck
More Bang for the Buck

Author: Christian Stolle

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2015-12-04

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 9781519670731

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Wars of aggression waged by ostensibly democratic governments of the Western world destabilized the Middle East and North Africa. The use of drone strikes and weapons of mass destruction against the civilian population of these areas reeks of genocide. Violence is further stoked up by military and financial support of Islamic terrorists and authoritarian rulers by the international community. Due to enduring wars and bleak future prospects, many who are affected set out on the perilous journey towards Europe. They are joined by freeloaders from relatively safe countries that aim for a higher standard of living in the wealthier nations of Europe. Encouraged by relatively open borders, jihadists creep into the European mainland. Europe appears to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of refugees, migrants and terrorists that sweep into Europe as part of a modern mass migration. Violence in refugee camps and at border crossings appears to be daily fare. The apparent criminal energy of new arrivals incites fear among Europeans. Many are critical of the asylum policies of their governments and are in turn branded xenophobes by the media, politicians and do-gooders. Racists take advantage of the heated atmosphere by grabbing for votes among the concerned and alienated. In this explosive environment, democratic societies must respond with prudence and strength. An understanding of the mechanisms and forces at work-whether they be religious, political, economical or other-is urgently needed. Men and women of good will must face the reality of what is happening in order to prevent chaos, hostility and degradation. Resources need to be generated to provide, integrate, repair and thrive. Some are widely unknown, despite their accessibility and proven practicality. Others are known but yet untapped, not least because the use of some of the most profitable seems counterintuitive and politically incorrect. Dangerous times call for judicious measures. The decisive liberalization of gun laws can significantly improve upon the security in affected countries. There is no other way for peaceful citizens to effectively defend against terrorists and tyrants. The legalization of drug trade would further unburden police and courts, create jobs, generate tax revenue and soothe inflamed passions...

No Refuge
No Refuge

Author: Robert Muggah

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2013-04-04

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1848137427

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'Africa's refugee and IDP camps are a cause of major concern to the international community. Millions of men, women and children endure situations of protracted displacement in deplorable conditions. In the absence of more durable solutions, refugees and IDPs in many situations are exceptionally susceptible to militarization. No Refuge describes how the phenomenon of refugee militarization threatens to undermine asylum and protection. This edited volume is a timely and invaluable resource for governments, UNHCR protection officers, UN agencies, and NGOs. It is a must-read for all concerned with improving the safety and rights of refugees and IDPs on the ground.' António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 'No Refuge provides a timely analysis by a group of Africa experts of the causes and consequences of refugee militarization in Africa. It should prove invaluable for practitioners, policy-makers and academics in their quest to find practical and effective remedies for this growing humanitarian and security problem. I highly recommend it.' Professor Gil Loescher, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford The militarization of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is a persistent and tragic feature of protracted displacement situations, especially in Africa. The phenomenon threatens access to asylum and protection-core pillars of refugee law and the mandates of aid agencies. But while policy debates rage over how best to disarm refugees and prevent them from destabilizing neighbouring states, there is surprisingly little evidence explaining why displaced people arm themselves or precisely how militarization affects hosting communities. No Refuge analyses the experience of refugee and IDP militarization in several African countries affected by and emerging from civil war, including Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. It provides a considered overview of the historical, political and regional dimensions of refugee and IDP militarization in Africa, as well as international and national efforts to contain it.

Women as Weapons of War
Women as Weapons of War

Author: Kelly Oliver

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0231141904

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From the female soldiers of Abu Ghraib prison to Palestinian women suicide bombers, women and their bodies have been "powerful weapons" in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Kelly Oliver reveals how the media and the George W. Bush administration used metaphors of weaponry to describe women and female sexuality and forge a link between vulnerability and violence. Oliver analyzes the discourse surrounding women, sex, and gender and the use of women to justify America's decision to go to war. She also considers the cultural meaning, or lack of meaning, that lead female soldiers at Abu Ghraib to abuse prisoners "just for fun," and the commitment to death made by women suicide bombers. She examines the pleasure taken in violence and the passion for death and what kind of contexts creates them. Oliver concludes with a diagnosis of our fascination with sex, violence, and death and its relationship with live news coverage and embedded reporting, which naturalizes horrific events and stymies critical reflection.

What Women Do in Wartime
What Women Do in Wartime

Author: Meredeth Turshen

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 1998-04

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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This is the first book to describe and analyze the experience of women in African civil wars. A mixture of reportage, testimony and scholarship, the book includes contributions from women in Chad, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan. The political context of these conflicts is outlined in an introduction to each chapter. The book profiles women's responses to war, as combatants as well as victims, and describes the groups women organize in the aftermath. Examining rape and other forms of gendered political violence in African civil wars, this extraordinary volume is also about women taking action for change. It is set to become required reading for students and academics of women's, peace and African studies.

Soft Weapons
Soft Weapons

Author: Gillian Whitlock

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-02-15

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 0226895270

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Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran,Marjane Satrapi’s comics, and “Baghdad Blogger” Salam Pax’s Internet diary are just a few examples of the new face of autobiography in an age of migration, globalization, and terror. But while autobiography and other genres of life writing can help us attend to people whose experiences are frequently unseen and unheard, life narratives can also be easily co-opted into propaganda. In Soft Weapons, Gillian Whitlock explores the dynamism and ubiquity of contemporary life writing about the Middle East and shows how these works have been packaged, promoted, and enlisted in Western controversies. Considering recent autoethnographies of Afghan women, refugee testimony from Middle Eastern war zones, Jean Sasson’s bestsellers about the lives of Arab women, Norma Khouri’s fraudulent memoir Honor Lost, personal accounts by journalists reporting the war in Iraq, Satrapi’s Persepolis, Nafisi’s book, and Pax’s blog, Whitlock explores the contradictions and ambiguities in the rapid commodification of life memoirs. Drawing from the fields of literary and cultural studies, Soft Weapons will be essential reading for scholars of life writing and those interested in the exchange of literary culture between Islam and the West.