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61. GENDEREDNESS IN ENGOs: A COMPARATIVE INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND TURKEY

Author:
Rakibe Külcür
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
This paper analyses the gendered organisational practices of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) in the United Kingdom (UK) and Turkey and the possible outcomes of these practices on gender compositions in senior roles. Since gender is an important element in organisations, it is expected to have implications for policies of ENGOs. The research on which this paper is based was undertaken as part of a Ph.D. which examined the gendered nature of ENGOs in Turkey and the UK. The research revealed how and why ENGOs are gendered especially in positions of power and influence. This is an important question because of pressure groups’ influence on environmental decision-making, and yet it has largely been neglected until now. This research revealed that while the ENGO sector is dominated by young single middle-class female employees, white, middle class men are in charge of the decision-making. It showed that the ENGOs reflect the rest of the society and its dominant patriarchal values. The research concluded that gender-biased working practices such as culture of long working hours, lack of formal recruitment and promotion procedures and short-term contract work relations limit career progression of women. This is due to the gendered roles and the traditional division of work in society (the gender division of labour), where triple workload of women remains invisible as a result of patriarchal and capitalist relations existing in both societies.
Topic:
Environment, Gender Issues, Women, Feminism, and NGOs
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, and Asia

62. WOMEN EMPLOYMENT IN ASIA: A CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON BETWEEN INDIA, SOUTH KOREA AND TURKEY

Author:
H. Işıl Alkan
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
In line with the recognition of the significance of women in the path to development, various countries have sought to increase female labor market participation over the past decades. While many European countries have been successful, numerous Asian countries have failed. The purpose of this study is to compare the patterns of female employment in three Asian countries since the 1990s including India, South Korea, and Turkey and to discover the main determinants of the issue. Female employment is a multidimensional concept that should be evaluated from cultural, economic and political perspectives. The study thus adopts a broad perspective containing cultural, economic and political factors in different nations.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Culture, Women, Employment, Economic structure, and Feminism
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, India, Asia, and South Korea

63. The Surplus Woman: Unmarried in Imperial Germany, 1871-1918

Author:
Catherine L. Dollard
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berghahn Books
Abstract:
The first German women’s movement embraced the belief in a demographic surplus of unwed women, known as the Frauenüberschuß, as a central leitmotif in the campaign for reform. Proponents of the female surplus held that the advances of industry and urbanization had upset traditional marriage patterns and left too many bourgeois women without a husband. This book explores the ways in which the realms of literature, sexology, demography, socialism, and female activism addressed the perceived plight of unwed women. Case studies of reformers, including Lily Braun, Ruth Bré, Elisabeth Gnauck-Kühne, Helene Lange, Alice Salomon, Helene Stöcker, and Clara Zetkin, demonstrate the expansive influence of the discourse surrounding a female surfeit. By combining the approaches of cultural, social, and gender history, The Surplus Woman provides the first sustained analysis of the ways in which imperial Germans conceptualized anxiety about female marital status as both a product and a reflection of changing times.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Political Activism, Women, and Literature
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Central Europe

64. The role of parliaments in NATO member countries in advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Author:
Sarah Ferbach, Audrey Reeves, Callum Watson, and Léa Lehouck
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Since 2007, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly has pursued an original and ground-breaking approach of mapping the distinctive contribution of its member parliaments to advancing the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. Following on from previous reports in 2013 and in 2015, this study provides an up-to-date analysis of the 28 national responses to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly WPS survey in 2018. The main findings are as follows: 1. There was an increase in parliaments’ reported activity in the field of WPS, from 81% of respondents reporting some degree of involvement in 2015 to 100% in 2018. Countries with a National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security remain twice as active as countries without a NAP. 2. Of all participating delegations, 91% report that women recently occupied prominent functions related to peace and security in their parliament, thus contributing to enhancing women’s leadership in public debate on peace and security. 3. Parliamentary reports suggest that their engagement as legislative and oversight bodies has remained stable or slightly decreased in quantitative terms. Encouragingly, this engagement has nonetheless diversified in qualitative terms. Parliaments now report the development of legislation and resolutions on a greater variety of WPS themes and 36% mention using two or more monitoring mechanisms in overseeing the implementation of the WPS agenda, an increase from 24% in 2015. 4. Parliaments of NATO member countries have taken up NATO policy recommendations regarding dialogue with civil society organisations and cooperation with other NATO member states, with 17 delegations (61% of respondents) now reporting some activity in this area. The report includes full details and analysis of the survey responses as well as recommendations for parliaments in NATO member countries going forward.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Development, Gender Issues, Refugee Issues, Peacekeeping, Women, and Gender Based Violence
Political Geography:
Geneva, Europe, and United Nations

65. Gaming for peace: Gender awareness training and the Polish military

Author:
Anne Holohan, Justyna Pyz, and Kamila Trochowska
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:
War Studies University
Abstract:
Despite regulatory and legal changes, women are persistently underrepresented in military organisations on peacekeeping missions. This article argues that part of the reason for this can be found in persistent stereotypical ideas about gender roles, and looks at the attitudes and experience of Polish military personnel who have been deployed on peacekeeping missions as evidence of this. However, witnessing other militaries stance on gender, where such stereotypes are still there, but not as entrenched, can cause personnel to contextualise if not question their own organisation’s stance on gender. Sixteen Polish military peacekeepers were interviewed in-depth about their experiences on peacekeeping missions as part of a European H2020 project, Gaming for Peace (GAP). The interviews were used to build scenarios for a digital role-playing game to develop soft skills among peacekeeping personnel, and these soft skills included gender awareness. This article analyses the interviews to explore the experience of gender for both men and women in the Polish military, and shows that there is an urgent need for the type of training in gender awareness that is part of GAP.
Topic:
Peacekeeping, Women, Training, Peace, Stereotypes, Gender, and Military
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

66. Toward gender equity and women’s empowerment

Author:
Jean-Philippe Platteau
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
There are three main channels of women’s empowerment: legal or policy reforms, outside economic opportunities, and collective action. Legal (or policy) reforms are generally based on statutory laws that enact rules to be followed or prohibit certain practices. External economic opportunities for women represent alternative activities and places of working and living. Collective action brings women together to advance their collective interests.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Discrimination, Equality, and Empowerment
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, China, Europe, Turkey, India, Asia, and Senegal

67. August 2017 Issue

Author:
Aaron Brantly, Charlie Winter, Devorah Margolin, Michael Knights, Kristina Hummel, and Raffaello Pantucci
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
After a respite from mass-casualty terrorism for more than a decade, the United Kingdom this past spring suffered three such attacks in the space of just 73 days, making clear it faces an unprecedented security challenge from jihadi terrorism. In our cover article, Raffaello Pantucci outlines what investigations have revealed so far about the March attack on Westminster Bridge, the bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May, and the June attack on London Bridge and Borough Market. The early indications are that the Westminster attacker, Khalid Masood, had no contact with the Islamic State and the Manchester and London Bridge attackers were, at most, loosely connected to the group. The current threat environment, Pantucci writes, continues to be mostly made up of individuals and smaller scattered cells planning lower-tech attacks with very short planning and operational cycles—sometimes remotely guided by the Islamic State—rather than cells trained and dispatched by the Islamic State to launch large-scale, Paris-type attacks, but this could change as more British Islamic State recruits return home. Our interview this month is with Edward You, a Supervisory Special Agent in the Biological Countermeasures Unit in the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. While the full liberation of Mosul last month effectively ended the Islamic State’s caliphate pretensions, Michael Knights warns the Islamic State and other jihadis are already bouncing back in several parts of Iraq and more strongly and quickly in areas where the security forces are either not strong enough or not politically flexible enough to activate the population as a source of resistance. As the Islamic State transitions from administering territory to a renewed campaign of terrorism and insurgency, Charlie Winter and Devorah Margolin examine the Islamic State’s apparent lifting of its moratorium on using women as suicide bombers. In a commentary, Aaron Brantly argues that creating back-doors in encryption, or banning it, would create significant societal costs without stopping terrorists from accessing the technology.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Science and Technology, Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Insurgency, Counter-terrorism, Women, Islamic State, and Encryption
Political Geography:
Iraq, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, and Global Focus

68. Female Brain Drain in Poland and Germany: New Perspectives for Research

Author:
Karolina Beaumont, Matthias Kullas, Matthias Dauner, Izabela Styczynska, and Paul Lirette
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This report provides an analysis of the issues related to female brain drain between Poland and Germany in the years 1989-2015: female and male migration patterns during specific time periods, the challenges of female migration, the emigration of highly-skilled individuals in Poland and Germany, as well as the issues regarding brain drain from a gender perspective. Global female migration is a topic frequently studied in academic literature; however, the topic of female brain drain is one that has long been ignored by academic research. This gap in research on female brain drain is closely related to a significant lack of relevant quantitative data, and, consequently, has led to gaps in policymaking. The aim of this report is to gather all available information on female brain drain and its impact on labour markets, gender equality, female migration, and human capital, while noting the gaps in data and policymaking. A further objective of this report is to highlight the issues that are important for policymaking, as well as to propose adequate polic recommendations. The report aims to provide a current and comprehensive analysis of female brain drain in Poland and in Germany – two neighbouring countries, with complex histories of population migration – as well as an analysis of the economic and societal consequences of this phenomenon for both countries. The publication was prepared within the project “Brain drain/brain gain: Polish-German challenges and perspectives - Focus on the gender aspects of labour migration from 1989” with financial support from the Polish-German Foundation for Science and The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
Topic:
Demographics, Education, Gender Issues, Migration, Labor Issues, Brain Drain, Women, Inequality, and Social Policy
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, Germany, and European Union

69. Feminist Strategy in International Law: Understanding Its Legal, Normative and Political Dimensions

Author:
Catherine O'Rourke
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
While international law has typically waxed and waned in feminist favours, contemporary feminist engagements reveal a strongly critical, reflective thrust about the costs of engaging international law and the quality of ostensible gains. To inform this reflection, this article draws on feminist scholarship in international law – and a specific feminist campaign for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in Northern Ireland – to distil three distinct feminist understandings of international law that underpin both theory and advocacy. International law is understood, first, as a system of rules to which states are bound; second, as an avenue for the articulation of shared feminist values; and, third, as a political tool to advance feminist demands. The study finds that feminist doctrinalists, and those working within the institutions of international law, share concerns about the resolution’s legal deficiencies and the broader place of the Security Council within international law-making. These concerns, however, are largely remote for local feminist activists, who recognize in the resolution important political resources to support their mobilization, their alliances with others and, ultimately, it is hoped, their engagement with state actors. The article concludes that critical reflection on feminist strategy in international law is usefully informed by more deliberate consideration of its legal, political and normative dimensions as well as by an awareness that these dimensions will be differently weighted by differently situated feminist actors.
Topic:
International Law, United Nations, Women, and Feminism
Political Geography:
Europe and Northern Ireland

70. Women’s Peacebuilding Strategies Amidst Conflict: Lessons from Myanmar and Ukraine

Author:
Roslyn Warren, Anne Applebaum, Holly Fuhrman, and Briana Mawby
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
Abstract:
In both Myanmar and Ukraine, broad-based and inclusive peace is still a work in progress. Amidst these challenges, women are developing effective strategies to participate in peace and security mechanisms and to advance women’s rights. Based on field interviews with civil society leaders and government officials in Myanmar and Ukraine and a review of the literature, this study examines how women are building peace amidst ongoing conflicts. The study finds that, in both countries, women use a variety of strategies to advance peace and security. While national plans and formal peace processes have had mixed results for women, alternative steps – notably including informal relationships and utilizing other international frameworks and norms – can be highly effective for advancing women’s interests. Several findings emerge that have broader relevance for policymakers and practitioners seeking to advance women’s rights amidst ongoing conflict: Women can leverage regional and international standards and norms to advocate for women’s rights and peace. This is evident in Myanmar, where women promote frameworks such as CEDAW, UNSCR 1325, and the Beijing Platform for Action. In Ukraine, women additionally promote standards in line with EU gender equality policies as a way for peace process stakeholders to improve their international reputation.
Topic:
Security, Women, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar