ABSTRACT
The introduction provides some thoughts on feminist international relations and feminist security studies (FSS), and surveys some concepts that are fundamental to the subsequent chapters in the volume. It describes the overall perspective of the book, which is characterized by the clear understanding that women, that is, persons who identify in a given context as female, are both victims and perpetrators of violence in armed conflict. This duality notwithstanding, it is significant to discuss the motivations, social and economic circumstances, expectations, and experiences of women who end up as female fighters. The introduction explores the notion of voice, the shortcomings of a simplified notion of voice, and how women's voices can be made heard in security research. One common finding in all chapters is that women's participation in armed conflicts is much more complex and contentious than men's soldiering. This chapter provides some examples of this multifaceted issue. It also draws attention to researchers’ positionality in security studies, since for a long time security studies and international relations have not only gone gender-blind but also taken an exclusively Global North perspective. It notes the contributors’ awareness of this academic shortcoming and their own positionality, as well as the volume's effort to overcome the older approaches by including authors from different world regions and discussing cases from different continents. The chapter concludes with short presentations of each chapter and underlines aspects and outcomes shared by most chapters.
