IR2006

Female Fighters in the Sierra Leone War: Challenging the Assumption? - Chris Coulter

- 10-30% of all fighters in Sierra Leone War female o Faced a stigma as "rebel women" - Notion of being victims (56) o How much agency do they actually have as perpetrators/perpetuators? (57) o More vulnerable to sexual violence - Traditional gendered roles in warfare (57) o Do they still apply with the changing nature of war? o Almost all females abducted in SLW taught to kill (59) - To what extent did this empower the women? (60) o Victim/Perpetrator Dichotomy (Men = 'Aggressive perpetrators'; Women = 'passive victims') - Gendered ideas of war and peace (63) o Women have to "become like men" o Women also often forgotten about in post-war demobilization efforts o Female fighters as vicious - transcending acceptable female behaviour -SLW combatants do not fit traditional notions of gender (65) o Creates problems for Western ideas - Constructs of victims v. perpetrators (66) o Victims seen as lacking agency (female genderization?) o Can often be both, (one leads to the other?)

The sociology of globalization - Luke Martell

- First wave globalism: New phenomenon, focus on economic issues, cultural homogenization. Will continue in the future and is generally positive - Second wave skepticism: Globalisation is not new and NOT global. Globalization is mainly discourse based. Focus on inequality. Argues cultures are becoming americanized. Future conflict is in the cards. - Third wave Tranformationism: Globalization comes and goes, Trade and migration has been happening for ages. Globalisation is driving force behind changes reshaping the world, Territorial boundaries no longer as important. Global culture is a hybrid. - Fourth wave: Discourse: Analyzes globalization as a discourse, Influenced by post-structuralist, post-modernist. Emphasize role of symbols and consciousness in the world

Globalization and Postcolonialism - Intellectual & Historical Background: The story of Unequal Development from 1500 to 1900 - Sankaran Krishna

- Main Argument - Neoliberal Globalization & Postcolonialism are opposing theoretical viewpoints - Modernization Theory (Neoliberal Globalization/Adam Smith) - The presence of certain attributes leads to 'modernity' which leads to economic development.'Modernity' is real; Modernity is positive. - Methodological Individualism - only 'real' entity in social analysis is the individual - Economic liberalization and the expansion of free trade will "inevitably result in development for everyone" - Underdevelopment Theory (Postcolonialism/Karl Marx) - 'Modernity', economic development, and colonialism are inextricably linked. Economic liberalization and the expansion of free trade directly reinforce global inequality (between 1st & 3rd world), and global hierarchy. A societies class structure plays a central role in "determining whether (increased) trade and commerce will have a positive or negative impact on general well-being

Critical approaches to security: K.M. Fierke - Definitions and redefinitions

- Narrow Definition of Security - An approach which views security largely in military terms (emphasizes a state's material capabilities, and 'Hard Power') - Very dominant during the early stages of the cold war - most applicable to inter-state conflict ('national security') - The end of the cold war and the collapse of the USSR caused this concept to be increasingly criticised - Narrow Definition as Ethnocentric - 'whose security did this narrow definition reflect?' - Critics argued that the narrow definition of security primarily reflected the concerns of Western states (especially the US)

Critical approaches to security: K.M. Fierke - Human insecurity

- Primarily concerned with the "inextricable interrelationship between freedom from want and freedom from fear" - Built on the notion that individual rights are of equal importance to states' - The Security Development Nexus - Attempts to link 'development' and 'security' in order to address the needs of the poor and excluded directly rather than via their states'

Religion as an overlooked element of international relations - Jonathan Fox

- Religion is relevant to the study of international relations today however it is often overlooked by theorists Its impact on the world: - Rationality & Religion: o Social scientists often see religion as irrational, and by extension ignore it o 'Religiosity' is extremely difficult to quantify which causes it to be ignored o Dominant belief among social scientists that Modernity is opposed to religion o Secularization Theory - Opposing definitions of 'secularization' - Religion & Decision Making o Religion influences the way people think, and by extension influences their behavior - Religion and Legitimacy o Religion can be used to legitimate governments, and their policies (both international and domestic) o Religion is a key source of moral legitimation - Religion as an International Issue o Religion crosses borders and influences policy/individuals on a global as opposed to local scale - Religion and Identity o Religion can shape the identity and lead to conflicts (Bosnians/Croats, Northern Ireland, Evangelicals USA, Arab-Israeli conflict, etc.) o Nationalism linked to religion

The Desecularization of the world: an overview - Peter Berger

- Secularization Theory: Modernisation leads to the decline of religion, but Berger argues this is not necessarily true - Reject modernisation through (1) religious revolution and (2) religious subcultures - Origins of resurgence of religion: "modernity tends to undermine the taken-for-granted certainties" and the link between the Secular and the elite - Western europe and some educated groups of people are an exception to the secularization theory

Critical approaches to security: K.M. Fierke - The proliferation of concepts

- The Politicization of Security (End of the Cold War) - Wider definition of the referent object of security - Globalization & the emergence of new (non-state) security threats - ECC is a concept that generates debates that cannot be resolved by reference to empirical evidence because the concept contains a clear ideological or moral element and defies precise, generally accepted forms - The Expansionist Debate - Advocates for expanding the definition of 'referent objects' so that it includes individuals and groups other than the state/the international community

The External Dimension of EU Refugee Policy: A New Approach to Asylum - Emma Haddad

- The Tempere European Council of 1999 - committed Europe to the creation of a common European asylum - Regional Protection Programs (2005) designed to improve protection within host countries; establish procedure to determine refugee status; improve reception conditions; benefit wider local community; provide training & protection for those dealing with refugees; suggested voluntary resettlement - Security vs. Liberalization Ethos - members of the EU have adopted a "restrictive, control-oriented, approach" to refugee migration partially in response to the abolition of internal borders within the Schengen Area itself.

Critical approaches to security: K.M. Fierke - Danger

- The social construction of security threats - "Threats are made in an active process rather than discovered in a static environment" -The 'referent objects of security are socially -The Copenhagen School - "security is not an objective condition but an outcome of a specific kind of social process" - Security as a Speech - Securitization - The use of a speech act to present something as an existential threat, and the acceptance of the intended audience of that thing as a threat. The success securitization depends on the ability of the 'securitizing actor' to convince others that something is a threat

The new history of world war 1 - Kier Lieber

-Old historiography outdated- shift from idea of inadvertent war to a view of Germany -Old historiography based on political redaction: ideological, political bias -New historiography -Cult of the Offensive: Germany weren't ignorant to a difficult war -Crisis dynamics- response to escalation of situation in Balkans- Germans capitalised on situation -WWI and its unpredictable/unintended origins helped bring about concept of security dilemma, spiral model dynamics, offense-defense variables

Click to donate - Eva Halliday

-Representation is the context for policy-making -- -How we imagine people affects how we react to them -The ideological value of refugees -The myth of difference: Some refugees are more legitimate than others

Causes of War - Thompson and Levy

-War is a 'Joint outcome of the behaviour of two or more actors' (pg 6) -Clausewitzian view of war: "War is fundamentally coercive, driven by the aim of influencing the behaviour of other actors -Three types of civil war: asymmetric (stronger state vs. rebel), conventional, unconventional -Definition of war: "sustained, coordinated violence between political organisations" -Possible causes of war: Offensive vs. defensive realism, divisionary theory, greed/grievance, individuals/human nature

How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? Evidence from Thirteen Cases - Michael Ross

1. There is a causal link between natural resource wealth and CW. 2. Many primary commodities - especially agricultural ones - are unrelated to CW. 3. Looting and Grievances are not proven causal mechanisms. 4. Drugs are not related to onset of CW, but do lengthen it. 5. Resource wealth brought quicker end to certain conflicts, so not always bad. 6. Resource wealth and CW are not linked by one causal mechanism, but a combination. 7. In separatist conflicts, resources played a role in heightened grievances, but not in nonseparatist ones. 8. There were 4 "Unforseen Mechanisms" a. More Resource wealth = increased foreign state intervention. b. "Booty Futures" help weak rebels fund themselves. c. Booty Futures also help weak governments fund themselves. *Ross says booty futures help the weak get an edge over the strong d. Preemptive Repression (Governments terrorize local populations in resource-rich regions).

Religion and international relations theory - Jack Snyder

IR theories and religion: - Realism: o Has given little thought to cultural and religious factors o However, religion can help order systems and can shape specific behavioral choices within a system o Religion can differentiate units in the international system (but is it functional?) o Religion might legitimize power, and influence states' interest and the ways they seek to achieve those interests - Constructivism o Relevant to Wendt's four master variables: - Interdependence - enhanced by networks of theological diffusion, persuasion and emulation - Common fate - might arise from begin attacked by a powerful religion-based aggressor - Homogeneity - enhanced by a common religious identity - Self-restraint - might be lessened in times of mass religious mobilization - Liberalism o Has not accounted for religion due to the assumption that it drops out of the equation as states become more modern - Neoliberal institutionalism o Religion can be seen as the forerunners of modern bureaucratic secular organizations o Religion may share some of the functional characteristics of liberal institutions

Forced migration and international politics - Alexander Betts

Theories and their use in analysing FM -Neo-Realism: Generally not that useful. Refugee policy as a product of policies concerned with security. Sources of FM might be attributable to changes in the balance of power. States will help only for self-interested reasons. International cooperation on FM only takes place under conditions of hegemony. -Liberal institutionalism: States create and maintain international institutions for reasons of mutual interest. IOs and IIs can influence state policy and coperation on matters relating to FM -Analytic liberalism: Focuses on domestic influences and how they can influence state policy on FM. Interest groups can shape international responses. The character of a state will shape its response to FM. -The English School: Refugee/IDP regimes shape state values/interests. Focus on historical context. -Constructivism: the refugee regime has socialized states in a way that shapes their valus and interests over time. Emphasises the role of non-state actors. -Critical theory: Questions the nation-state as the basic unit of analysis for FM studies. Language regarding FM perpetuates power relations.