Gender and War

Module description

War is gendered and sexualised. The ways in which people experience war, are called into participate, and the broader narratives around how we understand war are underpinned by gendered discourse and structures of power. Feminist scholarships for the past five decades have much to say about war and violence.  Curiously we saw a split within feminist IR—one subfield focusing upon “security” and the physical, emotional, and symbolic violences that shape people’s experiences.  The other subfield focusing on the political economy, financing and materiality of war that also structures peoples’ experiences.  This module seeks to engage with both feminist global political economy and feminist security studies scholarship to offer students a more nuanced account of war and security markets. It also touches upon Queer IR scholarship, which is more recent and builds upon feminist IR to ask how normative understandings of sexuality structure world politics. 

Assessment details

100% Coursework

Educational aims & objectives

• To provide students with detailed knowledge of feminist thinking on international relations and war, through the application of applied theory to empirical case studies.
• To synthesise, compare, and discuss key academic approaches to concepts, theories, and methods for the analysis of the interaction within the subfield of feminist IR
• To engage critically with the significance of the history of feminism as an intellectual project and to foster reflection on questions of gender, international politics, justice, and global inequality.
• To encourage critical thinking on the implications of gender, as it intersects with other identity and structural markers of race and class for how we understand war and war economies.
• Improve communication (oral and written), analytical, problem-solving and presentation skills to a level commensurate with progression to postgraduate study, through engagement with selected readings in whole-class discussions, group proposed campaign projects, and academic research assignments.

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete the module will have:

• Have developed detailed knowledge of and the capacity to engage in debates about feminism, war and international relations
• Be able to synthesise, compare, and discuss key academic approaches to concepts, theories, and methods for the analysis within feminist International Relations
• Be able to reflect critically on the history of today's security challenges, and to explore questions of gender justice considering this knowledge.
• To be able to think critically about the future implications of gender for how we understand and practice global security
• To have developed communication, analytical, problem-solving and presentation skills to a level commensurate with progression to postgraduate study.

Teaching pattern

The module is taught through weekly lectures and seminars. The subject of each seminar will be determined by the seminar leader with whom students should also consult about their assessed work. The seminars also provide students with an opportunity to practice and develop their oral presentation skills, to raise general questions in a relatively small group and to get feedback on their essay-writing and seminar performance.

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.