Masculinity and New War: The gendered dynamics of contemporary armed conflict

by David Duriesmith

Overview

This book advances the claims of feminist international relations scholars that the social construction of masculinities is key to resolving the scourges of militarism, sexual violence and international insecurity. More than two decades of feminist research has charted the dynamic relationship between warfare and masculinity, but there has yet to be a detailed account of the role of masculinity in structuring the range of volatile civil conflicts which emerged in the Global South after the end of the Cold War.

By bridging feminist scholarship on international relations with the scholarship of masculinities, Duriesmith advances both bodies of scholarship through detailed case study analysis. By challenging the concept of ‘new war’, he suggests that a new model for understanding the gendered dynamics of civil conflict is needed, and proposes that the power dynamics between groups of men based on age difference, ethnicity, location and class form an important and often overlooked causal component to these civil conflicts.

Exploring the role of masculinities through two case studies, the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991–2002) and the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005), this book will be of great interest to postgraduate students, practitioners and academics working in the fields of gender and security studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317201519
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/03/2016
Series:	Routledge Studies in Gender and Global Politics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	146
File size:	470 KB

About the Author

David Duriesmith is a scholar of International Relations at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His work explores the role of masculinity, age, class and ethnicity in civil conflict from a pro-feminist perspective.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: The new war puzzle

Chapter 2 ‘New’ Wars and Gender

Chapter 3 Making Men, Making War

Chapter 4 Gender and New War in Sierra Leone

Chapter 5 New War in South Sudan

Chapter 6 Protest and Opposition: challenging the patriarchal bargains in war

Chapter 7 Conclusion: Unmaking New War

Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Despite its short length, Masculinity and New War covers a significant amount of ground: from discussing conceptual approaches to context-informed conflict analysis to policy evaluation. Duriesmith’s ability to creatively engage with existing concepts and adapt them rather than using them as “one-size-fits-all” constitutes the strongest point of the book." Alena Mizinova, University of East Anglia

From the Publisher