Feminist Contribution to International Relations

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Introduction

Since its initial development in the 1980s, the feminist view on international relations has gained significant attention from scholars nowadays. On the one hand, feminism is a promising movement in terms of further enhancement of equality between people. On the other hand, as some researchers argue, the ideas introduced by feminists can enrich the currently existing international relations frameworks (Duriesmith and Meger). In this regard, the current essay intends to discuss the differences in the approaches that the two main feminist streams of thought, namely so-called standpoint feminism and radical feminism, propose compared to mainstream frameworks. Moreover, it will be shown that the concept of gender is important as it helps to shed light on the power dynamics in the sphere of international relations and explain female exclusion from politics.

Feminist International Relations Theorists vs. Mainstream International Relations Theorists

The central focus of feminism studies is on the role of women in domestic and international politics. According to Cynthia Enloe – a famous radical feminist – and J. Ann Tickner – a prominent advocate of standpoint feminism – women were predominantly excluded from making decisions concerning domestic and foreign policies (Peterson). To address this gap, the latter researcher argues that the concept of state security should be redefined to include the struggle against violence and abuse of women. Tickner also adds that politicians should not only consider the threat to women’s security from other nation-states but also from fellow citizens as they are the primary source of female maltreatment. In a similar vein, Enloe argues that women were purposefully excluded from the decision-making process, which undermines the progress in the solution of such problems as sex trafficking, for instance (Peterson). Thus, the feminists argue that females should be adequately included in the world of international relations.

Other arguments that feminist authors make serve as a critique of the frameworks established by the mainstream international relations theories, especially realism. In particular, the former scholars state that the approach that promotes viewing nation-states as unitary decision-makers fails to recognize other actors such as transnational corporations or NGOs and the complexity of various relationships. Additionally, feminists maintain that the concept of national interest that the state should protect cannot be adequately understood if women are excluded from the discussions on crucial policies (Zalewski). However, not every scholar agrees that feminism should exist as a separate stream of thought within international relations; rather, the feminists’ critique should be incorporated into the existing mainstream theories. Nevertheless, feminists’ ideas have impacted the proponents of liberalism as well as realism which resulted in the creation of new theories, such as the framework of the ‘soft power,’ for example.

Gender Construction in International Relations

There are generally the two main terms that feminist scholars operate with, namely ‘patriarchy’ and ‘gender.’ As such, researchers state that gender is a socially constructed concept that manifests itself through the social norms of what males and females should do. It is further argued that while men are expected to be involved in a political decision-making process, women are discouraged from doing that (Zalewski). In other words, the political field in feminist understanding is a space that is determined by power dynamics which is dominated by males or represents a patriarchal system.

Conclusion

Overall, the current paper analyzed the role of feminism studies in the broader international relations theory. It was shown that such prominent scholars as Cynthia Enloe and J. Ann Tickner noted the exclusion of women from the decision-making process regarding international relations. This, in turn, has a negative impact on society as a variety of major problems, including violence, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking, are ignored. Therefore, feminists argue that the concept of ‘gender’ is important to study as it helps to reveal the power dynamics in international relations and adequately address the problems that stem from the patriarchal system.

References

Duriesmith, D., & Meger, S. (2020). Returning to the root: Radical feminist thought and feminist theories of International Relations. Review of International Studies, 46(3), 357-375. Web.

Peterson, V. S. (2018). Revisiting gendered states: Feminist imaginings of the state in international relations. Oxford University Press.

Zalewski, M. (2019). Forget(ting) feminism? Investigating relationality in international relations. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(5), 615-635. Web.

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Feminist Contribution to International Relations

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