Hostname: page-component-686fd747b7-mrck6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-13T11:06:59.592Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Women's Participation in Violent Political Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2015

JAKANA L. THOMAS  and
KANISHA D. BOND
JAKANA L. THOMAS*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
KANISHA D. BOND*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland–College Park
*
Jakana L. Thomas is Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, 368 Farm Lane, South Kedzie Hall, 314, East Lansing, MI 48824 (thoma977@msu.edu).
Kanisha D. Bond is Assistant Professor, University of Maryland–College Park, 3140 Tydings Hall, College Park, MD 20742 (kanisha@umd.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While women have participated in a variety of militarized movements across time and space, the determinants of their participation have not been examined systematically. In this article, we seek to explain variation in women's involvement across different violent political organizations. Our research highlights the role that organizational attributes play in influencing women's presence in violent groups. We evaluate our hypotheses using an original dataset on women's participation in and characteristics of 166 violent political organizations across 19 African countries from 1950 to 2011. Our empirical results show strong support for our argument that organization-based opportunities for women's participation explain whether female members are present in a group.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 109 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 488 - 506
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abeysekera, Sunila. 2007. “Implications of Insurgency on Women: The Sri Lankan Experience.” In The Impact of Armed Conflicts on Women in South Asia, ed. Shresta, Ava and Thapa, Rita. New Delhi, India: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 59–104.Google Scholar
Alison, Miranda. 2009. Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in Ethno- National Conflict. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alpern, Stanley B. 2011. Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Atran, Scott. 2003. “Genesis of Suicide Terrorism,” Science Magazine 299: 1534–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Balasingham, Adele. 1983. Women and Revolution: The Role Of Women In Tamil Eelam National Liberation Struggle. Tamil Nadu, India: Political Committee, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.Google Scholar
Baldez, Lisa. 2002. Why Women Protest: Women's Movements in Chile. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banaszak, Lee Ann. 1996. Why Movements Succeed or Fail. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basini, Helen S. A. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming Unraveled: The Case of DDRR in Liberia.” International Interactions 39 (4): 535–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beber, Bernd, and Blattman, Christopher. 2013. “The Logic of Child Soldiering and Coercion.” International Organization 67 (1): 67–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bereketeab, Redie. 2009. State-building in Post Liberation Eritrea: Challenges, Achievements and Potentials. London: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd. Google Scholar
Bernal, Victoria. 2000. “Equality to Die For?: Women Guerilla Fighters and Eritrea's Cultural Revolution.” PoLAR 23 (2): 61–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernal, Victoria. 2001. “From Warriors to Wives: Contradictions of Liberation and Development in Eritrea.” Northeast African Studies 8 (3): 129–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhadra, Chandra, Shresta, Ava, and Thapa, Rita. 2007. In The Impact of Armed Conflicts on Women in South Asia, eds. Shresta, Ava and Thapa, Rita. New Delhi, India: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 104–36.Google Scholar
Bloom, Mia. 2005. “Mother. Daughter. Sister. Bomber.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 54–62.Google Scholar
Bloom, Mia. 2007. “Female Suicide Bombers: A Global Trend.” Daedalus 136 (1): 94–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhaug, Halvard. 2006. “Relative Capability and Rebel Objective in Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 43 (6): 691–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, Doris. 1989. “Women and War: Eritrea.” Review of African Political Economy 45/46: 126–32.Google Scholar
Carpenter, R. Charli. 2005. “Women, Children and Other Vulnerable Groups”: Gender, Strategic Frames and the Protection of Civilians as a Transnational Issue.” International Studies Quarterly 49 (2): 295–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caprioli, Mary, and Boyer, Mark. 2001. “Gender, Violence, and International Crisis.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 45 (4): 503–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, R.Charli. 2006. “Recognizing Gender-Based Violence against Civilian Men and Boys in Conflict Situations.” Security Dialogue 37 (1): 83–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carreiras, Helena. 2006. Gender and the Military: Women in the Armed Forces of Western Democracies. London and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chattopadhyay, Raghabendra, and Duflo, Esther. 2004. “Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India.” Econometrica 72 (5): 1409–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cingranelli, David L., and Richards, David L.. 2013. The Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Dataset Version 2013.07.25. http://www.humanrightsdata.org.Google Scholar
Cohen, Dara. 2013. “Female Combatants and the Perpetration of Violence: Rape in the Sierra Leone Civil War.” World Politics 65 (3): 383–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, Isobel. 2004. Testimony before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, March 11. Retrieved at http://www.cfr.org/world/post-conflict-reconstruction-importance-womens-participation/p6909, August 2014.Google Scholar
Congolese National Liberation Front (FLNC). 1977. “The History, Statutes and Minimum Program of the Congolese National Liberation Front.” FLNC US Section.Google Scholar
Connell, Dan. 2001. “Inside the EPLF: The Origins of the ‘People's Party’ & Its Role in the Liberation of Eritrea.” Review of African Political Economy 28 (89), 345–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, Dan. 1993. Against All Odds: A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press.Google Scholar
Connell, Dan, and Killion, Tom. 2010. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. London: Scarecrow Press.Google Scholar
Cowan, Nicole. 1983. “Women in Eritrea: An Eye-Witness Account.” Review of African Political Economy 27/28: 143–52.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Martha. 2001. “Theories of Terrorism: Instrumental and Organizational Approaches,” In Inside Terrorist Organizations, ed. Rapoport, David. London: Frank Cass, 13–31.Google Scholar
Cunningham, Karla. 2003. “Cross-regional Trends in Female Terrorism.” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26: 171–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, David, Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede, and Salehyan, Idean. 2009. “It Takes Two: A Dyadic Analysis of Civil War Duration and Outcome.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 53 (4): 570–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Groot, Gerard. 2000. “Introduction to Part I: Arms and the Woman,” In A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military, eds. De Groot, Gerard and Peniston-Bird, Corinna. New York: Longman, 3–17.Google Scholar
Dunivin, Karen. 1994. “Military Culture: Change and Continuity.” Armed Forces & Society 20 (4): 531–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eck, Kristine. 2010. Raising Rebels: Participation and Recruitment in Civil War. Uppsala: Uppsala University Press, 39–42.Google Scholar
Eck, Kristine. 2014. “Coercion in Rebel Recruitment.” Security Studies 23 (2): 364–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN). 1993. “The Zapatista Women's Revolutionary Law.” In Voice of Fire: Communiques and Interviews From The Zapatista National Liberation Army, eds. Clarke, Ben and Ross, Clifton. AK Press, 39–42.Google Scholar
Eritrean Women's General Union (GUEW). History of the Eritrean Women's Movement.Google Scholar
European Parliament. 2006. “European Parliament Resolution On The Situation Of Women In Armed Conflicts And Their Role In The Reconstruction And Democratic Process In Post-Conflict Countries” (2005/2215(INI)).Google Scholar
Fekadu, Tekeste. 2008. The Tenacity and Resilience of Eritrea 1979–1983. Asmara: Hdri Publishers.Google Scholar
Feld, M. D. 1978. “Arms and the Woman: Some General Considerations.” Armed Forces & Society 4 (4): 557–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Richard L., and Lawless, Jennifer L.. 2004. “Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office.” American Journal of Political Science 48 (2): 264–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gates, Scott. 2002. “Recruitment and Allegiance: The Microfoundations of Rebellion.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 46 (1): 111–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gates, Scott, Binningsbo, Helga, and Lie, Tove. 2007. “Post-Conflict Justice and Sustainable Peace.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardam, Judith, and Charlesworth, Hilary. 2000. “Protection of Women in Armed Conflict.” Human Rights Quarterly 22 (1): 148–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez-Perez, Margaret. 2006. “Guerrilleras in Latin America: Domestic and International Roles.” Journal of Peace Research 43 (3): 313–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez-Perez, Margaret. 2011. “The False Islamization of Female Suicide Bombers.” Gender Issues 28: 50–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grover, Sonja. 2010. Prosecuting International Crimes and Human Rights Abuses Committed Against Children: Leading International Court Cases. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert. 1970. Why Men Rebel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Haines, Herbert. 1984. “Black Radicalization and the Funding of Civil Rights: 1957–1970.” Social Problems 32 (1): 31–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, Sondra. 2001. “The State of the Women's Movement in Eritrea.” Northeast African Studies 8 (3): 155–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbom, Lotta, Melander, Erik, and Wallensteen, Peter. 2008. “Dyadic Dimensions of Armed Conflict, 1946–2007.” Journal of Peace Research 45 (5): 697–710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, Norris, Pippa, and Welzel, Christian. 2003. “Gender Equality and Democracy.” Comparative Sociology 1 (3–4): 321–46.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Norris, Pippa. 2000. “The Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap: Women's and Men's Voting Behavior in Global Perspective.” International Political Science Review 21 (4): 441–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel, Mark, Lyons, Tanya, and Mason, Christine. 2002. “Women, Resistance And Africa: Armed Struggles in Zimbabwe, South Africa And Eritrea.” Humanity and Society 26 (3): 196–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyob, Ruth. 1995. The Eritrean Struggle For Independence, Domination, Resistance, Nationalism, 1941–1993. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Ron. 1997. The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground. Verso.Google Scholar
Kampwirth, Karen. 2002. Women & Guerrilla Movements: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chipas, Cuba. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Joyce, and Williams, Kristen. 2010. Women and War: Gender Identity and Activism in Times of Conflict. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.Google Scholar
Klouzal, Linda. 2008. Women and Rebel Communities in the Cuban Insurgent Movement 1952–1959. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.Google Scholar
Krosch, Sara. 2005. “‘A New Race of Women’: The Challenges of Reintegrating Eritrea’s Demobilized Female Combatants.” Master's Thesis. Clark University.Google Scholar
Lahai, John. 2010. “Gendered Battlefields: A Contextual and Comparative Analysis of Women's Participation in Armed conflicts in Africa.” Peace and Conflict Review 4 (2): 1–15.Google Scholar
Lanzona, Vina. 2009. Amazons of the Huk Rebellion: Gender, Sex and Revolution in the Philippines. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Leisure, Susan. 1999. “Exchanging participation for promises: Mobilization of women in Eritrea” In Democratization and Women's Grassroots movements, eds. Bystydzienski, Jill and Sekhon, Joti. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 95–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichbach, Mark Irving. 1995. The Rebel's Dilemma. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, Eileen. 1991. Shoot the Women First. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, Megan. 2009. “Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone.” Security Studies 18 (2): 241–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maoz, Zeev, and Henderson, Errol A.. 2013. The World Religion Dataset, 1945–2010: Logic, Estimates, and Trends. International Interactions, 39 (3).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, Christine. 2001. “Gender, Nationalism and Revolution: Re-Assessing Women's Relationship with the Eritrean Liberation Front.” Women & International Development, Working Paper 274.Google Scholar
Mason, Christine. 2007. “Terrorism, Gender and Nonviolent Islam: The Case of Eritrea” In Nonviolence: An Alternative for Defeating Global Terror(ism), eds. Ram, Senthil and Summy, Ralph. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 107–30.Google Scholar
Mason, T. David. 1992. Women's Participation in Central American Revolutions: A Theoretical Perspective. Comparative Political Studies 25 (1): 63–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdam, Doug. 1982. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine. 1985. “Mobilization without Emancipation? Women's Interests, the State, and Revolution in Nicaragua.” Feminist Studies 11 (2): 227–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2012). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd.Google Scholar
National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW). 1980. Women In The Eritrean Revolution: Eye Witness Reports And Testimonies. N.p.: n.p.Google Scholar
National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW). 1999. Eritrea: Women and their Tradition of Resistance. Asmara: N.U.E.W Publication.Google Scholar
Ogaden National Liberation Front. [15 August 1984] 1998. “Political Program of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).” Statement. http://www.onlf.org/viewpage.php?page_id=24. Last accessed March 2011.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Olsson, Louise. 2005. “The Namibian Peace Operation in a Gender Context.” In Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, eds., Mazurana, Dyan, Raven-Roberts, Angela and Parpart, Jane. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 234–254.Google Scholar
Pateman, Roy. 1990. Eritrea: Even the Stones are Burning. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press.Google Scholar
Paxton, Pamela, Hughes, Melanie, and Green, Jennifer. 2006. “The International Women's Movement and Women's Political Representation, 1893–2003.” American Sociological Review 71: 898–920.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pool, David. 1980. “Revolutionary Crisis and Revolutionary Vanguard: The Emergence of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.” Review of African Political Economy 19: 33–47.Google Scholar
Pool, David. 2001. From Guerillas to Government: The Eritrean People's Liberation Front. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Reif, Linda. 1986. “Women in Latin American Guerilla Movements: A Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Politics 18 (2): 147–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, Rachel. 2007. “No Girls Allowed? Recruitment and Gender in Colombian Armed Groups.” Ph.D. dissertation, Carleton University.Google Scholar
Selassie, Wubnesh. 1992. “The changing position of Eritrean women: An Overview Of Women's Participation in the EPLF,” In Beyond conflict in the Horn, eds. Doornbos, Martin, Cliffe, Lionel, and Ahmed, Abdel Ghaffar. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 67–71.Google Scholar
Silkin, Trish. 1983. “Eritrea: Women in Struggle.” Third World Quarterly 5 (4): 909–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siqueira, Kevin. 2005. “Political and Militant Wings within Dissident Movements and Organizations.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (2): 218–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., McAllister, Ian, and Hayes, Bernadette C.. 1998. “Explaining the Gender Gap in Voting: A Cross-national Analysis.” Social Science Quarterly 79 (4): 779–98.Google Scholar
Taylor, Catherine. 2000. “‘And Don't Forget to Clean the Fridge’: Women in the Secret Sphere of Terrorism.” In A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military, eds. De Groot, Gerard and Peniston-Bird, Corinna. New York: Longman, 294–304 Google Scholar
Tomz, Michael, Wittenberg, Jason, and King, Gary. 2003. CLARIFY: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results. Journal of Statistical Software. Copy at http://j.mp/k3k0rx.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UCDP Actor Dataset 2.1-2012, Uppsala Conflict Data Program, www.ucdp.uu.se, Uppsala University.Google Scholar
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. 2012. Gender and Post-Conflict Governance: Understanding the Challenges.Google Scholar
Veale, Angela. 2003. From Child Soldier to Ex-Figher: Female Fighters, Demobilisation and Reintegration in Ethiopia. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.Google Scholar
Viterna, Jocelyn. 2006. “Pulled, Pushed, and Persuaded: Explaining Women's Mobilization into the Salvadoran Guerrilla Army.” American Journal of Sociology 112 (1): 1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viterna, Jocelyn. 2013. “Women in War: The Micro-processes of Mobilization in El Salvador.” New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinstein, Jeremy. 2005. “Resources and the Information Problem in Rebel Recruitment” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (4): 598–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weldehaimanot, Simon, and Emily Taylor. 2011. “Our Struggle And Its Goals: A Controversial Eritrean Manifesto.” Review of African Political Economy 38 (130): 265–85.Google Scholar
Wilson, Amrit. 1991. The Challenge Road: Women and the Eritrean Revolution. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd. Google Scholar
Woldemikael, Tekle. 1993. “The Cultural Construction of Eritrean Nationalist Movements” In The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism: The Nation-state at Bay? ed. Young, Crawford. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, 179–99.Google Scholar
Wood, Elisabeth Jean. 2008. “The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks.” Annual Review of Political Science 11: 539–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, Rachel, and Winter, Patricia. 2004. “Discourses of Gender in the Contemporary British Army.” Armed Forces & Society 30 (2): 279–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zerai, Worku. 1994. “Organising Women within a National Liberation Struggle: Case of Eritrea.” Economic and Political Weekly 29 (44): WS63–68.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.