Feminist Theory in IR

Question 1

Simply, what is feminist IR?

Answer 1

studies and theories that are critical of masculinism and gender hierarchy

Question 2

What does feminist IR challenge?

Answer 2

disciplinary narrowness and the role of gender within IR

Question 3

Is feminism just about women?

Answer 3

no

Question 4

Feminism interrogates the power to ______________

Answer 4

specify insiders-outsiders, movement agendas, and even the progressiveness of theory and practice that claim to be feminist

Question 5

Feminism looks at the masculine parts of ________

Answer 5

militarism

Question 6

What kind of model of human nature does IR rely on?

Answer 6

atomistic, self-serving acquisitive, competitive

this is seen in rational choice

Question 7

According to feminism what is IR based on/what norm/default?

Answer 7

elite males in a modern european concert

this norm is seen as a default and was supposed to describe human nature everywhere

Question 8

T or F: the IR norm of masculinism is not flawed

Answer 8

F

It’s problematic

Question 9

What things does Peterson believe are “masculinist constructs”? And why?

Answer 9

sovereignty, national security, and military strength

believes they are not components of the international system that are neutral and rooted in human nature

Question 10

Who is the feminist scholar we studied?

Answer 10

Peterson

Question 11

What are some questions that critique IR?

Answer 11

Where do women fit into the stag hunt?

• traditional version of the stag hunt doesn’t describe everyone
• a domestic counter-part to stag hunt involves women, where women are impacted
• “domestic arrangements” in state behaviour/human behaviour

How are women affected by war and military spending?
-civilian population, allocation of budget for war allocates less resources to key concerns for women

How do women fit into the global political economy?

• domestic events are a part of IR, they affect decision-making
• just because it is more hidden does not mean it’s not significant

Question 12

How do women “bear the burden of poverty”?

Answer 12

they work formally, informally (black market/illegal or paralegal work), and domestically (usually unpaid and not considered)

Question 13

Describe what it means that women are “cheapened and flexible”

Answer 13

they perform most cheap labour, working in factories/sweatshops in global south and in manufacturing

Question 14

what does the neo-liberal model cut?

Answer 14

welfare, safety nets

elimination of subsidies (education, housing, healthcare)

Question 15

What does Cynthia Enloe’s book Bananas, Beaches, and Bases discuss?

Answer 15

• women’s unequal interactions with military power, colonial control, and the global economy
• different ways women’s lives intersects with global phenomena

Ex:

• local women’s employment became configured around overseas US military bases
• sex trade

-feminist IR interacts unconventionally with IR

Question 16

What do rationalism and positivism claim to do, and what does this claim give rise to?

Answer 16

• inherently claim to be able to tell the “one true story”

- giving a falsely universalizing” perspective

Question 17

How does feminism interact with IR?

Answer 17

• many IR scholars have welcomed feminist IR as an addition to the main body
• but “adding women” also exposes how IR theories “presupposes male experience and viewpoint”
• “excluding women/femininity is a fundamental structuring principle of conventional thought, discourse, and theorizing”(peterson)
• true feminist scholarship is transformative, disruptive

Question 18

What does gender as an analytical category show?

Answer 18

how women and ‘femininity’ have been systematically cast to the side

Question 19

What does studying ‘gender’ allow for?

Answer 19

• studying femininity in contrast to masculinity as its socially constructed opposite
• examining historical and power-laden “hierarchy of masculine-feminine as interdependent constructs”

Question 20

Describe the idea of feminizing the other

Answer 20

• links multiple oppressions
• can show marginalization of not only ‘women’ but also nature, racialized minorities, effeminate men, and colonized ‘others’

Question 21

structural and cultural violence create __________

Answer 21

societal norms of violence

Question 22

What societal norms of violence and structural and cultural violence entail?

Answer 22

• specifically targeting groups because of intolerance (ex. against women)
• –these views align with the DPT

Question 23

norms of intolerance and inequality should lead to ________

Answer 23

greater instances of violence

Question 24

though there are many forms of inequality, gender is a ___________

Answer 24

“cross-cultural foundation of social inequality” (Caprioli)

Question 25

define exploitation in the context of gender and structural violence

Answer 25

gender role lead to different possibilities for personal development

• look at illiteracy rates
• -in poorer countries, women are less literate; if resources are limited, boys will go to school

Question 26

define penetration in the context of gender and structural violence

Answer 26

structural violence is maintained through socialization, stereotyping, and a constant threat of violence

Question 27

define fragmentation in the context of gender and structural violence

Answer 27

women have fewer job opportunities outside the home

Question 28

define marginalization in the context of gender and structural violence

Answer 28

these dynamics serve to enforce women’s “secondariness”

Question 29

nationalist movements invariably emphasize ________

Answer 29

masculinized visions of glory(military victory)

-even women head of state doesn’t stop this from happening

Question 30

militarism is inherently ______

Answer 30

patriarchal

-male hierarchy/chain of command

Question 31

more pluralistic and equal societies tend to also be more ______, which suggests _______

Answer 31

gender-equal

suggests a causal relationship (even if it’s small)

Question 32

Does gender inequality just affect women?

Answer 32

no, it has negative repercussions at the societal level

Question 33

higher fertility rates, lower education and economic opportunity are correlated with _________. This has a predictive quality: _________

Answer 33

• with higher levels of intrastate violence

- higher levels of gender inequality can predict future conflict

Question 34

studying society through a gendered lens shows us _____ , which shows that feminism transcends IR, and feminism in IR transcends the ___________

Answer 34

shows us structural issues

transcends the typical understanding of gender