'Masculinities perspectives': advancing a radical Women, Peace and Security agenda?

Wright, Hannah Lucy (2019) 'Masculinities perspectives': advancing a radical Women, Peace and Security agenda? International Feminist Journal of Politics. ISSN 1461-6742

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Abstract

Feminist scholars have long explored the relationships between masculinities, femininities, and war, yet men are rarely named in Women, Peace and Security (WPS) policies, and masculinities even less commonly. Some activists in favor of bringing analysis of masculinities into WPS policies propose that a focus on reshaping masculinities and femininities as a strategy for resisting militarism is necessary to return the agenda to what they perceive as its “original” purpose of preventing war. Drawing on my personal experiences as an NGO advocate, and on participant observation and interviews with UK government officials, this article explores what we can learn from efforts to integrate a “masculinities perspective” into WPS policies. I argue that, while some language concerning men and boys and, to a lesser degree, masculinity/ies has been incorporated into these policies, this is usually done in ways that subvert the intentions of civil society actors who have advocated for this shift. As a result, these concepts have been assimilated in ways that do not challenge militarism, and indeed at times serve to normalize it. I argue that this demonstrates the limitations of WPS policies as a vehicle for pursuing feminist anti-militarist goals.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfjp20/current
Additional Information:	© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Divisions:	Gender Studies IGA: Centre for Women Peace and Security
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2019 23:09
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 01:54
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/101804

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