ABSTRACT
This chapter articulates the way in which warfare has always been gendered but how recent technological developments are changing the work that gender does in war. Considering the case of drones and the future likely development of autonomous forms of remote warfare, the chapter outlines what a gender-sensitive lens can tell us about future warfare – from the people who conduct it, to the rationales for going to war, to the treatment of targeted areas and populations. The chapter develops these themes from a narrative analysis of British and American policy documents on the use of armed drones and the development of artificial intelligence and autonomy in warfare systems. It also draws on interview data either from open sources or collected by the author. Interrogating the need to include women, the need to view men as gendered, and the need to critically engage with powerful gendered logics in our narratives about war, the chapter provides three ways of incorporating gender-sensitivity in the analysis of this key political-social phenomenon. In so doing, the chapter demonstrates how a gender-sensitive analysis is integral for understanding and engaging with the ethical and political ramifications of technological developments in future warfare.
