Why do women go to war? Despite the reality that female combatants exist the world over, we still know relatively little about who these women are, what motivates them to take up arms, how they are utilized by armed groups, and what happens to them when war ends. This book uses three case studies to explore variation in women’s participation in nonstate armed groups in a range of contemporary political and social contexts: the civil war in Ukraine, the conflicts involving Kurdish groups in the Middle East, and the civil war in Colombia. In particular, the authors examine three important aspects of women’s participation in armed groups: mobilization, participation in combat, and conflict cessation. In doing so, they shed light on women’s pathways into and out of nonstate armed groups. They also address the implications of women’s participation in these conflicts for policy, including postconflict programming. This is an accessible and timely work that will be a useful introduction to another side of contemporary conflict.
Table of Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Introduction
Chapter 1. Ukraine: Defending the Motherland
Chapter 2. The Kurdish Regions: Fighting as Kurds, Fighting as Women
Chapter 3. Colombia: Women Waging War and Peace
Conclusion and Implications
About the Authors
Reviews
"Too often the world thinks of women as either victims or peacemakers. Insurgent Women makes it clear that sometimes they are neither."—American University Magazine
"Insurgent Women explores the roles of female rebels in civil wars and sheds new light on how these women participate in recruitment, fighting and peacebuilding. The authors use an impressive range of sources—including interviews, archival materials and propaganda—to analyze variation across time and space in detailed case studies from around the world. The result is an important new contribution to the burgeoning research on women’s often-overlooked roles in war, and will be of great interest to scholars and policymakers alike."—Dara Kay Cohen, Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
"Overall, Insurgent Women is a stereotype-dismantling, balanced, topical, and accessible work that constitutes a valuable contribution to the growing scholarship on violent women in feminist security studies in particular, and in international studies in general."—International Feminist Journal of Politics
"Insurgent Women packs a tremendous amount into four short chapters. The authors tackle contemporary conflicts and cover complex topics in a way that is accessible to policymakers and a general audience."—Terrorism and Political Violence
"Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars is an important, relevant, and revealing book that will appeal to both scholars and practitioners in the security and policymaking sectors. This text is an excellent addition to criminal justice, security studies, and other courses examining women’s participation in insurgent organizations."—Journal of Strategic Security
About the Author
Jessica Trisko Darden is an assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University and from 2017 to 2019 a Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Alexis Henshaw is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Troy University and author of Why Women Rebel.
Ora Szekely is an associate professor of political science at Clark University and author of The Politics of Militant Group Survival in the Middle East.
