Theories of IR: Feminist Perspective

Lecture on Feminist Theory of IR

• Course: Theories of IR
• University: University of Sharjah
• Fall: 2024-2025
• Instructor: M. Moniruzzaman

Outline

• Basic Principles
• Origins of Feminism
• Women in IR
• Logic of Feminist IR theory
• Key IR Concepts from Feminist Perspective
• Types of Feminist Theory
• Main Points

Feminist IR Theory: Basic Points

• Gender approaches in IR and integration studies consider the "fairer sex" in theory.
• Feminism emerges from the experience of political struggle.
• There are multiple approaches to gender studies in international relations, often overlapping or contradictory.
• Gender relates not only to women but also how international policies are framed, studied, and implemented.

Conventional IR vs. Feminist IR

• Conventional IR relies on generalized rationalist explanations of asocial states' behavior in an anarchic international system.
• Feminist IR theories focus on social relations, particularly gender relations, instead of anarchy.
• Feminist theorists view the international system as constituted by gender hierarchies which contribute to gender subordination.

Main Thinkers and Works

• Cynthia Enloe: Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics
• Jean Bethke Elshtain: Women and War
• Ann Tickner: Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives on Achieving Global Security
• V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan: Global Gender Issues: Dilemma in World Politics (1993)
• Christine Sylvester: Feminist Theory and International Relations in a Postmodern Era
• Sandra Whitworth: Feminism and International Relations (1994)
• Jill Steans: Gender and International Relations: An Introduction

Feminist IR Worldview

• International relations affect and are affected by both men and women.
• Core IR concepts (war, security, etc.) are gendered.
• Feminist IR emphasizes the importance of considering how gender shapes the global political economy.
• There is no clear division between feminists working in IR and those working in IPE.

Origins of Feminist IR Theories

• Feminist IR emerged in the late 1980s and onwards.
• The end of the Cold War and re-evaluation of traditional IR theory during the 1990s facilitated the gendering of international relations.
• Feminist IR scholarship aims to problematize the politics of knowledge construction in international relations, often employing postmodernism/poststructuralism and deconstructivism.
• Feminist and women-centric approaches within international policy communities are rooted in liberal feminist emphasis on equality of opportunity for women.

Women in IR (and Politics)

• Mainstream IR research often ignores women.
• Women's lives and experiences, and female scholars, are excluded from IR thinking and theorizing.
• Current IR research offers a partial perspective (malestream).
• Thinking of IR only as high politics (war) overlooks the degree to which diplomacy involves women's interventions.

Logics of Feminist IR Theory

• Key concepts of IR theory are gendered.
• IR studies are not neutral, reflecting power, sovereignty, anarchy, and security within a patriarchal structure that separates public and private spheres.
• Male experiences dominate the public sphere, while female experiences are often relegated to the private sphere, thus undervalued in IR.
• IR excludes and marginalizes women due to gender-specific assumptions and the dominance of men's perspectives.

Further Insights on Feminist IR

• Feminist IR theorists criticize how malestream IR theories fail to adequately account for change and continuity in global politics owing to their gendered biases.
• A key aspect of feminist IR is rejecting the separation between domestic and 'international' politics, instead emphasizing their interdependence.
• Attempts to exclude domestic or private spheres from IR thinking reflect gendered hierarchies.

Key Concepts in Feminist IR

• Realism and Liberalism view people as rational actors, often ignoring gendered interactions prevalent in the particular context of a society.
• Men are associated with the public realm (order), and women are associated with the private sphere (anarchy).
• States can be seen as reflections of gendered power that normalizes gendered identities in society.

Power, Rationality and Security in Feminist IR

• Power in feminist IR is not simply "power over", but how rules of the game shape interactions and outcomes.
• International cooperation/collaboration often serves as a means to an end, disconnected from genuine shared interests, according to Feminist IR theory.
• Security in feminist IR is not just focused on state security, but includes vulnerabilities of individuals (violence, poverty, gender inequality, ecological degradation, war).

Types of Feminist Theory

• Liberal feminism seeks the same rights for women as men, focusing on women's roles in international politics.
• Marxist/socialist feminism examines oppression of women through the lens of capitalism and patriarchy.
• Critical feminism analyzes the ideas that men/women attach to their relationships and the roots of these ideas.
• Postcolonial feminism critiques the domination of westernized feminism.

Conclusions

• Gender is a social issue, not biological.
• Feminist IR resists fixed elements (like anarchy) in IR theory.
• Feminist IR recognizes the potential for change in global politics. Women are viewed as peace-loving and gentle.

This quiz explores the fundamental principles and key concepts of Feminist Theory in International Relations (IR). It covers the origins of feminism, the role of women in IR, and contrasts traditional IR theories with feminist approaches. Test your understanding of these critical ideas and their implications in global politics.