Wars, Violence, and Gender in the Twentieth Century

In this class, we will examine World War II as a gendered experience. We will explore various scholarly interpretations of wartime sexual violence, examining its strategic and opportunistic dimensions. In other words, we will reflect on wartime violence as a military strategy, weapon of war, practice, and/or by-product of war

This week, we will continue our discussion of different forms of sexual violence. Whereas the previous class concentrated on sexual violence during World War II, this class will focus on similarities and differences in male and female experiences of the Holocaust in concentration camps and beyond them. In other words, using Doris Bergen’s terms, we will explore whether sexual violence during the Holocaust was unique or typical.

Delving into the postwar period, this week’s class aims to trace how postwar European societies tried to overcome the moral and physical devastation of World War II. The class main focus will be on the war’s effects on family life and gender roles. We will discuss how combatants and noncombatants found ways to overcome traumatic wartime experiences and (re)build their lives.

This week, we will continue to explore the post-World War II world. However, we will move from Europe to South Asia to explore the violent process of forming independent states in the postcolonial world. We will focus on one case study—the Bangladesh War of 1971—to examine the relationship between nationalism, gender, and sexual violence.

During this week’s class, we will explore the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides from the perpetrator’s perspective. In other words, we will investigate why people commit extraordinary violence. We will also continue our examination of sexual violence (please review readings from Weeks 2, 3 and 5) and the strategic and instrumental use of rape by critically evaluating the concept of “rape as a weapon of war” in the context of the Rwandan and Yugoslav wars and genocides. Specifically, we will look at personal and structural factors that shaped perpetrators’ decisions.

This week, we will discuss one of the most brutal conflicts in post-independent Africa: the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002). Tracing the blurred boundaries between “war” and “peace” and dispersed frontlines, we will consider how the war penetrated the everyday realm, affecting the labour market and social relations. Another focus of this week’s class will be violence against children, the capitalization on child labour, and the employment of child soldiers in warfare.

Starting with an analysis of the definitions, concepts, characteristics, and types of terrorism, we will focus on the role of women in terrorism. We will approach the topic from two perspectives. First, we will discuss how specific terrorist organizations see women’s role in the terrorist movement. Second, we will compare and contrast conventional narratives about women’s motives for joining terrorist organizations with women’s own narratives about their decision to join.