United Nations - General & Miscellaneous, Militarism, Peace Studies, Masculinity
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Overview
"In this book, Sandra Whitworth looks behind the rhetoric to investigate from a feminist perspective some of the realities of military intervention under the UN flag." "Whitworth contends that there is a fundamental contradiction between portrayals of peacekeeping as altruistic and benign and the militarized masculinity that underpins the group identity of soldiers. Examining evidence from Cambodia and Somalia, she argues that sexual and other crimes can be seen as expressions of a violent "hypermasculinity" that is congruent with militarized identities but entirely incongruent with missions aimed at maintaining peace. She also asserts that recent efforts within the UN to address gender issues in peacekeeping operations have failed because they fail to challenge traditional understandings of militaries, conflict, and women." This unsettling critique of UN operations, which also investigates the interplay between gender and racial stereotyping in peacekeeping, has the power to change conventional perceptions, with considerable policy implications.Synopsis
Whitworth (political science and women's studies, York U., Canada) offers a feminist critique of UN peacekeeping missions, arguing the politics of peacekeeping is often ignored in celebrations of their allegedly humanitarian motivations. She provides studies of missions in Cambodia and Somalia in the 1990s, paying particular attention to the impact of missions on the lives of local people. She also argues that the most aggressive elements of masculinity is reinforced in forming the identity of soldiers, making them particularly unsuitable for peacekeeping missions. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Book Details
Published
August 1, 2004
Publisher
Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
Pages
210
Format
Library Binding
ISBN
9781588262967