| Module Identifier |
IPM6430 |
| Module Title |
WOMEN AND WARFARE |
| Academic Year |
2001/2002 |
| Co-ordinator |
Dr Jennifer Mathers |
| Semester |
Semester 2 |
| Course delivery |
Seminar | 1 x 2 hour per week |
| Assessment |
Essay | 2,000 words | 25% |
| |
Essay | 2,000 words | 25% |
| |
Exam | 3 Hours | 50% |
Aims
The aim of this module is to examine theoretical and historical debates concerning the relationship between women and war.
Objectives
On the completion of the module, students should be able to:
- discuss debates in International Relations literature about the gendered nature of militaries and warfare
- examine the extent and impact of the integration of women on the armed forces of different countries
- explore continuity and change in women's experience of warfare using a series of historical case studies
- compare the differing expectations and consequences of Western and non-Western women's participation in war
Brief description
The module will begin by considering the major debates in International Relations literature about the gendered nature of militaries and warfare, and by exmining the ways that different schools of thought have viewed women's participation in armed forces and in warfare. After identifying a series of important issues through their examination of theoretical literature, students will then be asked to discuss those issues in relation to a number of historical and contemporary case studies, including the First and Second World Wars, the Vietnam WSar and the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Emphasis will be placed upon exploring continuity and change in women's experience of warfare since 1914 and on comparing the different expectations and consequences of Western and non-Western women's participation in war. Students will also consider the extent and impact of the integration of women on the armed forces of different countries, and assess the likely impact of significant changes in the nautre of war (for example, the greater emphasis on the peacekeeping role on the part of Western armies) on women's involvement in war.
Reading Lists
Books
Jean Bethke Elshtain.
Women, Militarism and War.
Cynthia Enloe.
Maneuvers: The International Politics of Miltarising Women's Lives.