Gender, War, and Justice in South and Southeast Asia

This course examines historical and contemporary experiences of gender, war and justice within two crisis-prone sub-regions of the Asia-Pacific: South and Southeast Asia. Drawing on multiple feminist traditions and interdisciplinary approaches to peace and security, the course exposes students to the ways in which gender plays a pivotal role in shaping the material and ideological drivers of wars and conflicts, as well as the distribution of resources and responsibilities during times of violence and in their aftermath. Students will gain insights to women’s varied roles in both the perpetration of violence, and in peace building across clans and kinship networks, communities and through nation-building. Students will also grapple with the relevance of de-centering gender analytically and instead examine gender as it intersects with race/ethnicity, citizenship, class, religion, and sexuality in the analysis of the distinct challenges for peace and security in South and Southeast Asia. Finally, the course explores the significance of global and regional security and human rights agendas in enabling the pursuit of justice for women in South and Southeast Asia.