Gendered practices of counterinsurgency

Khalili, Laleh

doi:10.1017/s026021051000121x

Cited by 112 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…74 While the role of women in militaries has long been subject to debate, interest in harnessing the difference of women has more recently gained traction with the idea of female engagement teams (FETs)-dedicated units supporting counter-insurgency operations, thought to provide alternative sources of intelligence through engagement with 'local' women who are otherwise distrustful of western military forces in Afghanistan. 75 The idea of FETs will of course be familiar to NATO analysts, who are understandably keen to enlist all available resources for operational effectiveness, including gender balancing. Indeed, NATO has a significantly better record on gender balancing than UN peacekeeping operations, with women comprising nearly 11 per cent of NATO armed forces.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The futures past of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Kirby

Shepherd

2016

International Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has developed at the United Nations over the course of the past 15 years, and there have been critical engagements with it for nearly as long. In this article, we first take stock of the operationalization of the WPS agenda, reviewing its implementation across a number of sectors. In the second section, we expose the tensions that have marked the WPS agenda from the start. With others, we argue that there has been a narrowing of the agenda's original scope, reducing it to the traditional politics of security rather than reimagining what security means. We highlight this reduction primarily through an analysis of the tension between the ‘participation’ and ‘protection’ pillars of the agenda. Further, we argue that the WPS agenda faces a current challenge in terms of the actors entrusted with it. Although in some ways involving civil society, the consolidations and implementation of WPS principles at the national and international levels have become increasingly state‐centric. Third, we imagine some possible futures of the agenda, from a trajectory characterized by increasing marginalization or even irrelevance, to new avenues like the emergent, albeit tentative, ‘Men, Peace and Security’ agenda. We close with an argument for a revival of the WPS agenda beyond a fixation on states, beyond a narrow heteronormative or essentialist focus on the ‘Women’ of the WPS resolutions, and moving towards the radical reimagining of security as peace that inspired the original architects of these important resolutions.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The futures past of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Kirby

Shepherd

2016

International Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…That is, a problematic formulation has arisen from the marriage of high-impact war-fighting, development and human security discourse (Gilmore, 2011). This could mean that the deployment of people-centric means providing human security, which might result in disempowerment of local populations (Roxborough, 2007); these disempowerment efforts are associated with pacifications tactics (Gilmore, 2011) such as identity cards and monitoring the populations (Khalili, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the British experience in Malaya was not constructed on the notion of a population-centric approach, but instead resulted from the use of overwhelming force against the civilian population in accordance with civil action and amnesty programs (Cohen, 2010). Despite the long history of small wars and colonial counterinsurgencies, population-centric counterinsurgency is presented as 'soft option' by its supporters, particularly with reference to conventional military methods where the eradication of the enemy has been the ultimate aim (Khalili, 2011(Khalili, :1472.…”

Section: Counterinsurgency and People-centric Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to previous the remark, in this doctrine, progressive language and plans -such as a running the economy, information and intelligence operations, the use of local forces, and the integration of civilian and military efforts including aid and governance so as to finally win over civilians -are foregrounded, instead of making kinetic force public (Khalili, 2011). It is also worth noting that FM 3-24 calls for the construction of infrastructure and basic services in counterinsurgency; this can include, for example demanding new levels of coordination and international organizations, NGOs and private companies fulfilling the tasks of the military (Owens, 2013;Williamson, 2011).…”

Section: Counterinsurgency and People-centric Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The population is transformed by the COIN into a human terrain in which they 'can be made visible, knowable and malleable' for the purpose of pacifying them straightforwardly (Khalili, 2011(Khalili, :1479. This classification of combatants and non-combatants is required by population-centric counterinsurgency as it is the simplest way to differentiate low-risk civilians from high-risk combatants (Khalili, 2011).…”

Section: Counterinsurgency and People-centric Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

As a High-Impact War-Fighting: The Other Side of the Us Counterinsurgency (Coin) Warfare

Bilici¹

2017

jisr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ultimate aim of any successful counterinsurgency approach is to defeat the insurgency and establish peace for the host country. In order for the counterinsurgent to achieve this aim, there are two approaches to adopt; simply through heavy use of force or through winning hearts and minds of the local population. This paper deals with the US Counterinsurgency approach, which is depicted as a kinder or gentle warfare, arguing that the adaptation of a people-centric approach and of Human Terrain System (HTS), merely cover up the high-impact war-fighting; somehow, the military is deployed to carry out commands in a kinder light, and high impact war fighting is an inherent part of the current counterinsurgency doctrine.

show abstract

Masculinity and Conflict

Riley

2020

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concept of masculinity does not sit alone but is understood in relation to notions of femininity within the broader concept of "gender" or the structure of gender relations. This is the way in which the social environment constructs men and women's social positioning with reference to assumptions around embedded gender defined roles and traits and attaches specific values and ideas to frequently unquestioned, societal gender hierarchies, or socially accepted gendered norms (Connell 2005; Kimmel 2000). Masculinity, although affiliated to the male body, is therefore interlinked with idealized beliefs and discourses around what "men should be like" or what men naturally are like (Duriesmith 2016, p. 27; Flood 2002). Relationally, this is supported by theories of what women naturally are and should be and typically built around gender binaries such as men as active, public, and strong and women as passive, private, and weak (Cohn 2013). These beliefs and assumptions about the natural condition of men and masculinity impact upon the male sense of identity, which is then reproduced in gendered social action. The association of masculinity with conflict is complex. Cultural and social understandings of masculinity typically place men as more violent and with a greater affiliation to war-making institutions such as the military. Although it is recognized that there is not one type of masculinity and that masculinities are changeable and contested, assumption around what it means to be a man have very real consequences for the practices of conflict. Taking masculinity seriously helps us understand better why conflict takes place, how conflict is fought, who is impacted, and in what way. This entry covers areas of subtopics in the masculinity and conflict literature such as hegemonic masculinity, military masculinities, and the role of masculinity in wartime violence and sexual violence. Also covered are some areas of newer research that examines alternative masculinities in non-state armed groups, peacebuilder masculinities and the notion of the "new man" masculinity.

show abstract

Gendered practices of counterinsurgency

Cited by 112 publications

References 25 publications

The futures past of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

The futures past of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

As a High-Impact War-Fighting: The Other Side of the Us Counterinsurgency (Coin) Warfare

Masculinity and Conflict

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About