War, Women, and Power
From Violence to Mobilization in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina

While dominant narratives emphasize war's destructive effects, this book demonstrates how war can open up unexpected opportunities for women's political mobilization.

Marie E. Berry (Author)

9781108401517, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 August 2018

297 pages, 10 b/w illus. 4 maps 3 tables
23 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.46 kg

'… this book fills an important void in the broader scholarship on women and war by focusing on how episodes of mass violence intervene in - rather than simply reflect - the gendered power relations that undergird politics, prewar, during war, and postwar.' Kanisha D. Bond, American Journal of Sociology

Rwanda and Bosnia both experienced mass violence in the early 1990s. Less than ten years later, Rwandans surprisingly elected the world's highest level of women to parliament. In Bosnia, women launched thousands of community organizations that became spaces for informal political participation. The political mobilization of women in both countries complicates the popular image of women as merely the victims and spoils of war. Through a close examination of these cases, Marie E. Berry unpacks the puzzling relationship between war and women's political mobilization. Drawing from over 260 interviews with women in both countries, she argues that war can reconfigure gendered power relations by precipitating demographic, economic, and cultural shifts. In the aftermath, however, many of the gains women made were set back. This book offers an entirely new view of women and war, and includes concrete suggestions for policy makers, development organizations, and activists supporting women's rights.

1. From violence to mobilization: war, women, and power
2. Historical roots of mass violence in Rwanda
3. War and structural shifts in Rwanda
4. Women's political mobilization in Rwanda
5. Historical roots of mass violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina
6. War and structural shifts in Bosnia-Herzegovina
7. Women's political mobilization in Bosnia-Herzegovina
8. Limits of mobilization
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Sociology [JHB], Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Society & culture: general [JF]