Constructing Motherhood Identity Against Political Violence: Beyond Crying Mothers (Contributions to International Relations)

This volume offers a nuanced understanding of female agency in political violence by reviewing and analyzing the political construction of motherhood as a form of social agency against political violence committed by both state and non-state actors in different parts of the world. While the international relations discipline has traditionally viewed the relationship between women and violent actors as an exploitative one, this book demonstrates that taking maternal bodies seriously creates important intellectual space to examine the types and kinds of violence the discipline of IR takes seriously and the types and kinds of resistance practiced by mothers but often overlooked (at least by male/mainstream IR). Focusing on motherhood as an agency of change, this volume will appeal to scholars in the field of gender and international security, think tanks working on political and security affairs, social activists, policymakers, an interested public audience, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking study or research associated with gender and political violence. Preface Contents Contributors About the Contributors Abbreviations An Introduction to Constructing Motherhood Identity Against Political Violence: Beyond Crying Mothers Motherhood, Agency, and Violence: The Personal Is Political References Mothers Will Stop at Nothing: The Responses of Mothers of Terrorists Introduction Literature Review Mothers’ Responses Method Responses by Mothers of Terrorists in the United States Conclusion References Grieving Mothers Who Nurture Sustainable Peace and Women’s Political Agency in Argentina Introduction The Rationale Women’s Political Participation in Argentina The Military Dictatorship (1976–1983) Transitioning (1983–2001) Deficiently Democratic (2001–Present) Motherhood Activism in Three Vignettes Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Mothers Against Paco Mom Cultivates Argentina Empowered Constructions of Motherhood Developed Through Grief Opposing State Violence Under the Military Dictatorship and the Transition to Democracy Toward the End of the Transition to Democracy and into the Contemporary Period Sustainable Peace Under Different Forms of State Violence Conclusion: Bolstering Women’s Political Agency and Sustainable Peace References Empowering or Entrapping in Indigenous Patriarchy? Political Motherhood in India’s Northeast Conflict Zones Introduction Northeast Frontier Lands Naga Mothers: From Apolitical Peace-Work to Political Assertion Manipur’s Meira Paibis and the Radicalized Nude Mothers Protest Conclusion References Motherhood and the Combatant Role: A Case Study of Women Politically Motivated Prisoners in the Context of Violent Conflict Introduction Women Combatants and the Politics of Transgression Women Combatants and the NI Conflict Combatant Mothers Separation and the Maternal Role Conflict Transformation Conclusions References Motherhood in Iraq: Between the Matrix of Domination and the Matrix of Agency Introduction Women and Motherhood in Times of Conflict and War The Analytical Lens of the Chapter Iraqi Shi‘i Mothers Under the Reign of Saddam Hussein When the Battle Was Brought to Their Doorstep Conclusion References Identity, Trauma, and Resistance: The Lived Experience of Palestinian Motherhood in the West Bank Introduction Palestinian Women Dominant Palestinian Gender Role Narratives The Construction of Women’s Identities in Palestine The Palestinian National Identity Motherhood and the Palestinian National Struggle Bereaved Mothers Stories of Loss and Healing from Palestinian Mothers in Am’ari Refugee Camp Collective Struggle and Shared Suffering Lack of Support The Role of Religion and Nationalism The Role of Mothers Identity, Empowerment, and Resistance Conclusion References In the Shadow of Genocide: Mothers of Srebrenica and New Social Power Introduction Bosnian Muslim/Bosniak Political Visibility and Violence Social and Gendered Context Victimhood-Motherhood and Memory Activism-Political Activism Nexus Conclusion: Slow Memory – Or the Institutionalization of the Srebrenica Genocide References Women’s Peace Activism and the Construction of Motherhood in North Macedonia Introduction Background Methodology Women’s Peace Activities in Times of Political Violence and Uncertainty The First Phase The Second Phase Motherhood, Gender Essentialism and Political Participation Conclusion References The Psychopolitics of Motherhood and Political Violence: The Case of the Waiting Mothers in Turkey Introduction Women, Motherhood, and Non-State Violent Actors The Waiting Mothers of Diyarbakir Creating a New Motherhood Identity Challenging Social Hierarchies Unifying the Public for Peace The Psychopolitics of Motherhood and Political Violence Conclusion References Index