Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq

A Feminist Reformulation of Just War Theory

By (author) Laura Sjoberg Royal Holloway University of London, UK / University of Florida, USA

Publication date:

12 May 2006

Length of book:

278 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

235x164mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739116098

Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq offers a feminist critique and reconstruction of just war theory. It points out gender biases in the just war tradition and suggests alternative jus ad bellum and jus in bello standards that emphasize women, political marginality, and empathy. Laura Sjoberg applies this feminist just war theory to analyze the wars in Iraq since the end of the Cold War—the First Gulf War, the war of sanctions, and the Second Gulf War. By examining international political discourse from and about Iraq, it shows where war generally and just war specifically are gendered. Through the stories of key just war characters like Jessica Lynch, this book reveals where women are omitted and subordinated in global politics. Sjoberg suggests that dialogue and empathy replace righteousness in just war thinking for the good of human safety everywhere and concludes with alternative visions of Gulf War policies, inspired by feminist just war theory.
A new and distinctive feminist voice on war! Sjoberg grabs hold of the trickiest issues of justice and war making, as well as war avoiding, and shakes everything up. I especially welcome her use of empathetic cooperation to re-frame feminist thinking on war. This rigorous and reflective study will be a benchmark work for years to come.