Good work

1. The Globalization of World Politics 9e
Edited by John Baylis, Steve Smith, and Patricia Owens
Chapter 10: Feminism
Helen M. Kinsella

2. © Oxford University Press, 2022 2
Introduction
• The end of the cold war and the emergence of
new theoretical debates set the broader
context for the revitalization of feminist
theories of international relations
• Feminist international relations theories are
constitutive, interdisciplinary theories that
prioritize the study of women and/or engage
in significant debates over the meaning of
gender

3. © Oxford University Press, 2022 3
What is feminism?
• Feminism has no single definition
• Feminism is concerned with equality, justice,
and the elimination of women’s subordination
and oppression

4. © Oxford University Press, 2022 4
What is feminism? (con.)
• Feminism and feminist movements struggle
with issues of inclusion and exclusion,
specifically regarding race, sexuality, class, and
geographic location
– By asking not only ‘where are the women?’, but
also ‘which women are where?’, feminism and
feminist movements work towards overcoming
exclusions

5. © Oxford University Press, 2022 5
What is feminism? (con.)
• Without feminism and feminist movements,
women’s experiences and roles would have
remained of little importance or interest to
states
• Feminism and feminist movements have
succeeded in radically changing the
understanding of international organizations
and states regarding women’s significance for,
and contribution to, international politics

6. © Oxford University Press, 2022 6
What is feminist international relations
theory?
• Feminist international relations theories are
deconstructive and reconstructive
• Prior to the late 1980s, international relations
theories did not consider the role of gender or
of women

7. © Oxford University Press, 2022 7
What is feminist international relations
theory? (con.)
• Feminist international relations theories
introduced the study of gender and of women
– This prompted a critical analysis of the existing
discipline, and its fundamental concepts, such as
states and power, as defined by realism,
liberalism, and their derivatives

8. © Oxford University Press, 2022 8
What is feminist international relations
theory? (con.)
• Gender is not a synonym for women, but
includes both men and women in its purview
• Feminist international relations theories
conceptualize the state as a gendered
organization of power

9. © Oxford University Press, 2022 9
Gender and power
• The definitions of power and of gender are
linked in feminist international relations
theory
• There is more than one definition of power
and of gender
• The definitions of power and of gender
influence the kinds of methods and analysis
undertaken

10. © Oxford University Press, 2022 10
Four feminist international relations
theories
• Liberal feminist international relations
• Critical feminist international relations
• Postcolonial feminist international relations
• Poststructural feminist international relations

11. © Oxford University Press, 2022 11
Four feminist international relations
theories (con.)
• These four approaches
– help explain the range of feminist theorizing, but
do not sum it up completely
– each offer different insights into the operations of
power in international and domestic politics
– each can be understood best in relation to the
other, and in conversation with the others
– each have different historical origins and
developments, and all continue to evolve

12. © Oxford University Press, 2022 12
Case Study 10.1
Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom
• WILPF is the oldest formal women’s
international peace organization in the world
• It has led (through its spin-off PeaceWomen)
the monitoring of the UN’s Women, Peace and
Security (WPS) Agenda
• The WPS Agenda emphasizes the necessity of
the equal and full involvement of women in all
processes of peace and security

13. © Oxford University Press, 2022 13
Case Study 10.2
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan
• RAWA was founded in Kabul in 1977 to:
– promote women’s rights and social justice
– increase women’s participation in social, political,
and economic activities
– advocate for a secular democratic state
• Despite immense risk, RAWA continued to
operate throughout Soviet, warlord, and
Taliban rule
• RAWA opposed the US invasion in 2001

14. © Oxford University Press, 2022 14
Opposing Opinions: Feminist foreign policy
changes states’ foreign policy decisions
For
• Feminist foreign policy
places gender equality
at the crux of foreign
policy decisions
• Feminist foreign policy
makes a difference in
how states act
Against
• Feminist foreign policy does
not place gender equality at
the crux of foreign policy
decisions for its own sake,
but merely to legitimate
conventional policy goals
• Feminist foreign policy makes
no difference in how states
act