Ellen-Rae Cachola, Lizelle Festejo, Annie Fukushima, Gwyn Kirk, and Sabina Perez. March 14, 2008
Article discusses gender constructions of communities and countries within the Asia-Pacific. These assumptions are the philosophical frameworks that shape U.S. foreign policy in the region. Accessible at http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5069.
Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International politics
Enloe, Cynthia. 1990.
A professor of international relations with a very accessible writing style, Cynthia Enloe redefined the field with this book. Enloe argues that an understanding of international relations is not possible without the experiences of women working around overseas military bases, diplomats’ wives, women employed in “global factories” and agricultural production for export, as well as those who leave home to work as domestic servants in richer nations.
The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War
Enloe, Cynthia. 1993.
This develops the ideas outlined in Bananas, Beaches and Bases with discussions of the roles of UN peace keepers, civil wars in Central America, the 1991 Gulf War, military prostitution, US women soldiers, feminism and nationalism. A key theme is the relationship between militarization and masculinity.
Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives
Enloe, Cynthia. 2000.
An extensive discussion of women’s roles women in relation to militarization: as mothers who believe in patriotism and support their children enlisting; as nurses, military wives, and as soldiers. Examples from many countries including the United States.
The Curious Feminist: Searching for women in a new age of empire Cynthia Enloe. 2004
Essays on globalization and international relations, including one on masculinity as a foreign policy issue, militarization of US culture, and demilitarization.
The Remasculation of America: Gender and the Vietnam War Jeffords, Susan. 1989.
A fascinating study of how Hollywood war movies re-constructed masculinity and national pride in the Reagan era.
Redefining Security: Women Challenge U.S. Military Policy and Practice in East Asia, Berkeley Women’s Law Journal
Kirk, Gwyn and Carolyn Bowen Francis. 2000. (15) 229-271.
This article explores the contradiction between security treaties and Status of Forces Agreements governing the conduct of US troops overseas and the everyday security of local communities that “host” US bases, It details activist efforts to redefine security for local communities.
Children of GI Town: The Invisible Legacy of Militarized Prostitution Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, Spring: 71-100.Okazawa-Rey, Margo. 1997.
One of the few English-language articles based on interviews with Amerasian children and their Korean mothers who dated US soldiers. It argues that these children’s difficulties and the discrimination they faced must be understood in the context of official US indifference, Korean ethnocentrism, and negative attitudes to Korean women who worked in bars and clubs near US bases.
Women and Peace: Feminist Visions of Global Security
Reardon, Betty A. 1993.
Essays that offer visions of genuine security challenging the concept and practice of national/military security by Betty Reardon, a retired professor of education and co-founder of International Peace Research Association, who has promoted peace education for decades.
Gender and Global Security: A Feminist Challenge to the United Nations and Peace Research
Reardon, Betty A. 1998. Journal of International Co-operation Studies, 6 (1): 29-56.
Argues for the importance of gender in UN analyzes, definitions and policies for global security.
Women, War, Peace: The independent experts assessment on the impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace- building.
Rehn, Elisabeth and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 2002. New York: UNIFEM.
International in scope and with substantial policy recommendations, this book is the culmination of may interviews with women concerning experiences of violence, war, living as refugees, and the effects of war and violence on their health. Special attention is given to HIV/AIDs, peace operations, legal avenues for accountability and redress, and efforts for reconstruction and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict.
Making Connections: Building an East Asia-US Women's Network Against U.S. Militarism
Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 1998.
In Women and War Reader (eds.) Jennifer Turpin and Lois A. Lorentsen, 308-322. An account of transnational women’s organizing by two of the founders of this Network.
Women and War Reader
Turpin, Jennifer and Lois A. Lorentsen (Eds.). 1998.
An extensive anthology with articles on theoretical debates, nationalism, war culture, women in the military, resistance movements, parenting, peace culture and activism. Contributors draw on women’s roles in war and peace in Asia, Central America, Middle East, former Yugoslavia, and the United States.
Frontline Feminisms: Women, War and Resistance
Waller, Marguerite and Judith Rycenga (Eds.). 2000.
A wide-ranging anthology detailing women’s resistance to war and violence. The “frontlines” include projects dealing with militarization, resistance to oppressions including racism and colonialism, rape in war, military prostitution, US prisons, and women’s peace activism.
Senso Daughters: Daughters of War
1990. Video produced and directed by Noriko Sekiguchi.
First Run/Icarus Films: West Glen Communications [distributor], New York
