Feminist Security and Security Studies

Abstract

Feminist approaches use gender lenses to look for gender in international security, and observe what is then made visible. In Security Studies the word “gender,” refers to more than someone’s apparent sex; it refers to the divisions that we see and make between those understood to be men and those understood to be women and also the ways those traits operate in social and political life—at the individual level, in social interaction, in workplaces, in organizations, in politics, etc.This chapter takes stock of Feminist Security Studies, accomplishing three tasks: First, it situates Feminist Security Studies within and around security studies, substantively, intellectually, and categorically. Second, it discusses some of the major contributions of Feminist Security Studies, in general terms and with examples. Finally, it looks for the potential futures of Feminist Security Studies itself and security studies more broadly with the integration of feminist theorizing.