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Primed for Violence: The Role of Gender Inequality in Predicting Internal Conflict
Abstract
We know, most notably through Ted Gurr's research, that ethnic discrimination can lead to ethnopolitical rebellion–intrastate conflict. I seek to discover what impact, if any, gender inequality has on intrastate conflict. Although democratic peace scholars and others highlight the role of peaceful domestic behavior in predicting state behavior, many scholars have argued that a domestic environment of inequality and violence—structural and cultural violence—results in a greater likelihood of violence at the state and the international level. This project contributes to this line of inquiry and further tests the grievance theory of intrastate conflict by examining the norms of violence that facilitate a call to arms. And in many ways, I provide an alternative explanation for the significance of some of the typical economic measures—the greed theory—based on the link between discrimination, inequality, and violence. I test whether states characterized by higher levels of gender inequality are more likely to experience intrastate conflict. Ultimately, the basic link between gender inequality and intrastate conflict is confirmed—states characterized by gender inequality are more likely to experience intrastate conflict, 1960–2001.
... Scholars have examined the impact of gender composition of legislative branches on social and political phenomena such as women's substantive representation (Celis & Childs, 2008;Cowell-Meyers & Langbein, 2009;Lowande et al., 2019;Reingold, 2008) and policy outcomes (Taflaga & Kerby, 2020;Whitford et al., 2007;Woo, 2021). Among various topics, the relationship between female political representation and conflict behavior of states is one of the most hotly debated issues (Caprioli, 2005;Hessami & da Fonseca, 2020;Hudson et al., 2009Hudson et al., , 2012Koch & Fulton, 2011;Krause et al., 2018;Melander, 2005). However, even though previous studies have broadened our understanding about the impacts of the improved women's descriptive representation on conflicts, there is still room for improvement. ...
... The studies use diverse measures for analyzing the political participation of women and gender equality of a society. They include fertility rate, female labor-force participation (Caprioli, 2005), gender of a country's leader (states with a woman leader), the percentage of women in parliament, and relative education level of women compared to men (Melander, 2005). ...
... Similarly, regarding interstate conflicts, more gender equality reflected by political participation is related to peaceful relations with other states (Caprioli, 2000(Caprioli, , 2003Melander, 2005, p. 1;Regan & Paskeviciute, 2003). The results support that higher female participation in a society is associated with a lower risk of civil conflicts, onset, and violence (Caprioli, 2000(Caprioli, , 2005Melander, 2016). They have found the increased participation of women in politics particularly as legislatures decrease the probability of initiating wars and defense spending (Koch & Fulton, 2011;Nagel, 2021). ...
Do improved women’s descriptive representation in legislative branches and women’s participation in civil society decrease the intensity of civil conflicts? Is the impact of women’s presence in legislative branches on the conflict intensity magnified by women’s participation in civil society, and vice versa? In this study, we aim to expand the constructivist argument that equal gender roles in politics and civil society can bring about less intensive internal armed conflicts. Relying on time-series cross-national data on 151 countries from 1960 to 2016, we demonstrate that the increases in women’s descriptive representation in parliaments and women’s participation in civil society tend to decrease the predicted civil conflict intensity. In addition, we demonstrate that the deterrent effect of women’s descriptive representation is magnified by women’s participation in civil society and vice versa. These findings remain consistent in alternative model specifications with additional women-related control variables.
... Las desigualdades sociales y culturales pueden conducir a la violencia en las escuelas. La evidencia de la investigación sobre la desigualdad de género (Caprioli, 2005) sugiere que los estados con niveles más altos de desigualdad de género experimentan más violencia (Anderson, 2017). Además, los estudios han demostrado que la violencia es más común en regiones con mayores tasas de pobreza, diferencias culturales y exclusión social (Hawkins et al., 1998). ...
... Es evidente que el entorno escolar tiene el potencial de contribuir a la inclusión o exclusión social (Kramer, 2000). Además, la discriminación, la desigualdad y la violencia están interrelacionadas (Caprioli, 2005). Un análisis de la desigualdad estructural puede aclarar las conexiones entre género, violencia y variables del estado y el uso de los recursos (Anderson, 2017). ...
... En primer lugar, no todas las escuelas están dispuestas a cambiar sus políticas escolares y disciplinarias (Lodi et al., 2018), lo que dificulta la implementación exitosa de la justicia restaurativa. Además, no existe un modelo estándar e inequívoco para aplicar la justicia restaurativa, haciéndolo más complejo de lo que se pensaba inicialmente al abordar en las escuelas este tipo de justicia (Caprioli, 2005). Además, si la escuela opta por integrar la justicia restaurativa en su sistema disciplinario existente, pueden surgir dificultades desde las condiciones del entendimiento de las practicas, como las relaciones situacionales y hasta las extensiones económicas para su ejecución (Lodi et al., 2018). ...
Crear un entorno escolar seguro y equitativo es un objetivo crucial tanto para los educadores como para las instituciones educativas. Una forma de lograr este objetivo es mediante la implementación de prácticas restaurativas en las escuelas. Las prácticas restaurativas son un conjunto de principios y habilidades que tienen como objetivo construir relaciones y abordar eficazmente los daños y conflictos dentro de una comunidad. Este artículo busca examinar la relación entre las desigualdades sociales y culturales, la violencia y la implementación de prácticas restaurativas en las escuelas. Específicamente, explora las formas en que las desigualdades sociales y culturales pueden conducir a la violencia en las escuelas y crear un entorno inseguro y desigual. También examina cómo las prácticas restaurativas pueden abordar estos problemas y promover un ambiente escolar seguro y equitativo. Además, profundiza en los desafíos que enfrentan las escuelas al implementar prácticas restaurativas y evalúa formas efectivas de medir su éxito.
... First, conventional wisdom suggests women are either victims or bystanders of war. This focus is largely driven by the idea that women are inherently nonviolent as opposed to central players within rebel groups even though their participation as combatants is not novel (e.g., Goldstein, 2001;Caprioli, 2005;Plümper and Neumayer, 2006;Sjoberg, 2014). ...
... Indeed, there is truth to this wisdom. War has adverse effects on women by decreasing their life expectancy (Caprioli 2005;Plümper and Neumayer 2006) and increasing their likelihood of experiencing sexual violence (Brownmiller 1993;Wood 2006). Certain supply-side factors motivate women to defy pacifist stereotypes and take up arms. ...
... Finally, I control for conflict state attributes. Fertility provides a state's annual average of live births per woman (Caprioli 2005; World Bank 2015). Lower fertility rates indicate greater gender equality, respect for women, and is associated with more female combatants . ...
Conventional wisdom dictates that women are mostly victims of violence in armed conflict, but recent studies reveal women are often active participants and perpetrators of violence as well. Meanwhile, research shows armed group composition is a frequent determinant of violence against civilians, but many unconventional, yet influential, actors have received little attention regarding this outcome. Furthermore, few studies provide quantitative and cross-national evidence of how women’s shifting roles from victim to perpetrator affects violence against civilians. In this dissertation I examine the relationship between armed group composition, women, and violence against civilians in civil war by evaluating women’s roles as both victims and active participants.
The first study mirrors the conventional wisdom that women are victims of conflict. I examine this victimization stance in relation to an unconventional actor- private military contractors (PMCs). Using the Private Military Contractors and the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict datasets I examine how states’ employment of PMCs influences state-perpetrated sexual violence - a form of violence largely targeting girls and women. I argue that the increasing professionalism, reliance, and monitoring of PMCs contributes to their ability to help lessen sexual violence. The findings show that states employing PMCs commit less sexual violence than those not employing PMCs. This is especially true during the Global War on Terror period and for countries reliant on American PMCs.
The second and third studies use the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion dataset and the Georeferenced Events Dataset to depart from the view of women as victims of violence to explore women’s active participation in rebel groups. The second study examines how women’s participation as frontline combatants and noncombat outreach personnel in rebel groups influences one-sided violence (OSV). I contend that women’s impact on rebel group behavior is contingent upon their role in the group. Women are stereotyped as pacifistic and nonviolent. This stereotype requires women on the frontline to be socialized to behave violently towards civilians to be taken seriously as combatants. At the same time, this stereotype allows women to go unsuspected as perpetrators of violence, increasing the lethality of their OSV attacks. Meanwhile, women in outreach positions legitimize the group, help them gain domestic and international support, and decrease their reliance on OSV to coerce support. I find support for both hypotheses.
The last chapter examines the relationship between women as military leaders in rebel groups and OSV. I argue that women who rise to the rank of military leader have demonstrated excessive violence against civilians in order to prove their capabilities as combatants. At the same time, groups with higher levels of female combatants are associated with greater OSV, and this is often the result of subjection to violent socialization. Because women in military
leadership roles likely underwent the same process to later rise in rank, they should see this process as justified in producing effective fighters and will, thus, tolerate these acts of violence. Therefore, groups with both women in military leadership positions and higher number of women combatants should be associated with even larger levels of OSV. I find support for both hypotheses. However, the results indicate that relationship between women military leaders and OSV is largely contingent upon the presence of female combatants.
This dissertation provides evidence that even unconventional actors are highly influential in shaping violence against civilians. Additionally, it illustrates that women experience conflict in multiple ways, and their shifting roles can contribute to rebel groups’ behavior towards civilians in war.
... First, conventional wisdom suggests women are either victims or bystanders of war. This focus is largely driven by the idea that women are inherently nonviolent as opposed to central players within rebel groups even though their participation as combatants is not novel (e.g., Goldstein 2001;Caprioli 2005;Pl€ umper and Neumayer 2006;Sjoberg 2014). Second, until recently, the lack of available data on female rebels has limited our ability to examine their influence on civilian fatalities. ...
... Indeed, there is truth to this wisdom. War has adverse effects on women by decreasing their life expectancy (Caprioli 2005;Pl€ umper and Neumayer 2006) and increasing their likelihood of experiencing sexual violence (Brownmiller 1993;Wood 2006). Consequently, women are perceived as having little agency in conflict and are regarded as victims. ...
... Studies offer inconsistent findings of women's contributions once enlisted (e.g., Moser and Clark 2001;Goldstein 2001;Caprioli 2005;Sjoberg 2014;Wood 2019). A substantial portion focuses on the rise of female terrorists, showing that women terrorists are effective and often more lethal than men (Cunningham 2003;Bloom 2005Bloom , 2011O'Rourke 2009;Thomas 2021). ...
How do women’s roles in rebel groups influence the perpetration of violence against civilians? Research regarding women rebels’ impact on armed group behavior produces mixed findings, warranting further exploration. In this study, I provide the first cross-national analysis of women rebels’ influence on one-sided violence arguing that women’s impact is conditional upon their role within the group. War is considered a masculine phenomenon where violence is plauded, and women combatants are socialized to behave violently. Gendered perceptions of women as peaceful push women on the frontline to defy stereotypes and be exceptionally violent to be taken seriously as combatants. Meanwhile, these same stereotypes allow women to be especially lethal in their attacks because society does not expect it. Alternatively, women in outreach roles are tasked with acquiring support through nonviolent means. Perceptions of women as legitimate, trustworthy, and peaceful make women in outreach roles effective in garnering support for the group, reducing the group’s need to kill civilians to coerce support. Stereotypes of women are responsible for women killing both more and less civilians. Consequently, rebel groups composed of larger shares of frontline women fighters commit higher levels of one-sided violence (OSV) while groups using women in outreach roles commit less OSV. Using data from the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion data set and the Georeferenced Events Dataset, I find support for both hypotheses.
... If intersectionality is defined as 'the active interaction of the various relations of inequality' (Ferree 2010: 424), it is also necessary to gain more insight into the pernicious effects of these inequalities. To do so we turn to the concept of structural inequality (Galtung, 1975), which we link to the phenomenon of gender-based violence (Caprioli, 2005;Fu, 2015). Structural inequality can be seen as occurring in the forms of exploitation, penetration, fragmentation, and marginalisation (Galtung, 1975, 264-265). ...
... Structural inequality can be seen as occurring in the forms of exploitation, penetration, fragmentation, and marginalisation (Galtung, 1975, 264-265). Exploitation occurs when hierarchical labour divisions and gender roles are expected, leading to the asymmetric distribution of benefits such as personal development possibilities (Caprioli, 2005). For instance, influenced by the cultural perception of muijais and amahs in Hong Kong, MDWs are often made to work more than 12 hours a day (Hincks, 2017). ...
... Similar to the concept of internalised control, mentioned above, penetration refers to control over the consciousness of exploited individuals, causing them to accept inequality and violence. For instance, gender stereotyping and socialisation position women as inferior (Caprioli, 2005). In the case of MDWs, penetration is also exercised in the stereotyping of class and profession -MDWs are widely perceived as 'poor, vulnerable and dependent' (Ladegaard, 2017: 186), while being discursively represented as 'being spoiled and not behaving like maids' (Constable, 1997a(Constable, /2007. ...
Since the 1970s, local residents in Hong Kong have been employing migrant domestic workers (MDWs) for caregiving, cooking, and housekeeping. The vast majority of MDWs are women from the Philippines and Indonesia. Despite their long-standing and numerically significant presence in Hong Kong, many MDWs are still experiencing prejudice or being mistreated. This study focuses on Chinese media coverage of MDW mistreatment cases in Hong Kong and contributes to a growing body of research on the media representation of MDWs. Critical discourse analysis was conducted on 398 articles published between 2010 and 2019 in three popular Chinese-language newspapers, and the discursive representations of perpetrators and victims in the reports were examined. Adopting the conceptual tools of social control and structural inequality, and tracing their connection with the discursive representations, the study highlights the three significant phenomena of perpetrator exoneration and victim blaming, narrativization, and sensationalism. Findings reveal that MDW mistreatment becomes a secondary concern as the articles often highlight the academic achievements and emotional suffering of the perpetrators, relying on entertainment values and neglecting the deeper roots of the issue. The article then examines the ways in which media discourse arises from and shapes prevailing perceptions of MDW issues, showing how the potential for gender-based violence towards MDWs arises from the intersections of inequality across dimensions such as gender, ethnicity and class.
... Gender creates a system of hierarchy that ascribes value based on something or someone's perceived proximity to masculinity or femininity. This structure of male dominance is maintained through stereotypes and ideologies that function to justify the status quo and make the gendered order appear natural (Caprioli 2005;Peterson & Runyan 2014). However, masculinities are not fixed or immutable -rather they too are ordered in a hierarchy that adapts to maintain the primacy of the hegemonic masculinity -the idealized or normative way of being a man -which is informed by race, class, sexuality, able-bodiedness, etc. (Connell & Messerschmidt 2005). ...
... Structural and cultural violence refer to systemic injustice, and the cultural norms, practices, and ideas that legitimize the oppression perpetuated through indirect forms of violence (Galtung 1990(Galtung , 1996. As described earlier, male dominance is upheld through such norms and practices that assign higher value to what is masculinized, but also through the constant threat of violence to assure acquiescence to a system that renders the feminine subordinate (Bunch & Carillo 1998;Caprioli 2005). Swaine (2019: 14) writes, International Negotiation (2022) 1-25 | 10.1163/15718069-bja10072 "critically, these gendered norms inoculate a social tolerance of certain forms and levels of gendered harm." ...
Since the passage of UNSCR 1325, women’s formal inclusion in peace negotiations has been advocated as a means to pursue gender equality and improve peace outcomes. A narrow focus on inclusion and the embodied presence of women, however, does not address the gendered hierarchies embedded within negotiations. This article highlights how gender functions as a power structure that normalizes masculinity as the operating standard within the practice of peace negotiations. By focusing on the centrality of militarization and masculinity to liberal peacebuilding, I suggest three ways negotiations function as patriarchal institutions: the issues centered as essential peace components; the types of violence that “count” as conflict-related; and the actors deemed legitimate for inclusion. While inclusion is a critical aspect of improving gendered peace outcomes, attention to gendered bodies must include recognition of gender as an analytical category that shapes not just who is included but how the process is built.
... The British Council Nigeria also cites Film (2008) which acknowledges the connection between gender inequality, wider systems of injustice and clashes in the specific context of Nigeria's political economy. Furthermore, Caprioli (2005) and Melander (2005) as well as Iheduru (2006) see a connection between gender equality and intensive warfare within the state. This report underscores the importance of valuing and addressing gender relations. ...
The study focused on the impact of gender parity on achieving sustainable development vis-à-vis national integration in Nigeria. Consequently, the study examines those factors that propel symbiotic gender equality and sustainable development, towards national integration in Nigeria. The study further examined the apparent growing concern of gender inequality in the corridors of our socio-economic and political life as characterized in our workplace, politics and political appointments, school admissions, elective positions and job recruitment and placement, which directly or indirectly affects wealth creation, sustainable development and national cohesion in Nigeria. To investigate this, the study employed descriptive research design and deployed the PRISMA Model in the secondary sources of data collection, while content analysis was adopted for data analysis. The study was anchored on Julian Rappaport’s (1981) Empowerment Theory. Findings showed that 80% of women population according to 2006 census figure remains the hidden resources for national cohesion and sustainable development in Nigeria. The study strongly recommends for gender parity as the best option so that women as hidden resources could contribute their quota towards sustainable development.
... We redress this deficiency by showing the implications of abortion restrictions for other human rights. We also go beyond existing work that connects gender equality to liberalism and, conversely, structural inequality to patriarchal and sometimes militant nationalism (Caprioli and Boyer 2001;Caprioli 2005). We contribute to work that has connected gender equality to respect for PIR (Melander 2005) by explicating how abortion rights facilitate and fuel repression and undermine equal respect for the https://doi.org/10.33774/apsa-2024-gn5ss ...
Do abortion restrictions augur broader crackdowns on human rights? We examine the relationship between restrictions on abortion and future Physical Integrity Rights (PIR) abuses. We argue that abortion restrictions both directly and indirectly influence PIR. Directly, abortion restrictions serve as a testing ground for repressive policies and behaviors. Indirectly, restrictions worsen inequality across segments of society and winnow support for social and religious diversity. When abortion restrictions are enacted, regimes are better equipped to shift society and consolidate power, as a subdued public is discouraged from voicing collective grievances. Using a variety of time-series cross-sectional approaches, we show that significant retractions in abortion access foretell erosion of PIR. - Paper is Forthcoming at the American Political Science Review
... However, potential drivers of conflict are so numerous and complex that predictive success is low and causality is difficult to determine [1]. For example, previously developed models have incorporated a wide range of drivers, from ethnic relationships and geographic location to gender relations and perceived opportunities [4][5][6][7][8]. These drivers frequently do not act alone: complex interactions are often determining factors in whether or not violent conflict actually occurs [1,6]. ...
The emergence of conflict is a complex issue with numerous drivers and interactions playing a role. Exploratory dimension-reduction techniques can reveal patterns of association in such complex data. In this study, an existing dataset was reanalyzed using factor analysis for mixed data to visualize the data in two-dimensional space to explore the conditions associated with high levels of conflict. The first dimension was strongly associated with resilience index, control of corruption, income, income inequality, and regime type, while the second dimension was strongly associated with oil production, regime type, conflict level, political terror level, and water stress. Hierarchical clustering from principal components was used to group the observations into five clusters. Country trajectories through the two-dimensional space provided examples of how movement in the first two dimensions reflected changes in conflict, political terror, regime type, and resilience index. These trajectories correspond to the evolution of themes in research on conflict, particularly in terms of considering the importance of climate or environmental variables in stimulating or sustaining conflict. Understanding conditions associated with high conflict can be helpful in guiding the development of future models for prediction and risk assessment.
... To bolster their arguments, scholars have shown how deeply embedded norms of marriage, inheritance, land ownership and the different economic roles of men and women can foster or prolong conflict and further gender inequalities (Baliamoune-Lutz and McGillivray, 2009;Bowen, Hudson and Nielsen, 2015;Caprioli, 2005;Chinkin and Charlesworth, 2006;Forsberg and Olsson, 2016;Hudson and Matfess, 2017). In addition, they have pointed to the role of neo-liberal capitalism in putting pressure on land and resources, with the effect of rendering already vulnerable populations poorer and further at risk of violent conflict (Basu, 2017;Ramnarain, 2013;Reysoo and Verschuur, 2017;unrisd, 2005). ...
... Women's participation in the labor force has a strong impact on economic growth, with women's education being an important factor to increasing their labor participation (Mehrunisa, M. et al 2016). Gender gaps contribute to instability and fragility, and poor governance (Caprioli, 2005 andBranisa andothers, 2013). Gender equality is associated with better macroeconomic outcomes including higher GDP, greater productivity, lower income inequality, and faster economic growth (IMF 2015, Gonzales and others 2015;Sever and al 2022). ...
... To this end, debate on human security must meaningfully address the salient gender disparity (Haq, 1999) and gender equality (Moussa, 2008). In a study on intrastate violence between 1960 and 2001, Caprioli (2005) argues that higher rates in intrastate violence is directly proportional with higher levels of gender inequity. Echoing the debate of human security and ending conflict, Hudson (2010) made a reference to Anderlini (2000: 3) who argues, it is not a matter of what women stand to gain from inclusion into the peace process, but rather 'what peace processes stand to lose when women's wealth of experiences, creativity, and knowledge are excluded'. ...
This study investigates the lived experiences of Afghan women refugees in Kohat camps in Pakistan. The objective of the study is to understand women’s everyday experiences of discrimination and/or empowerment while living in these camps. Using the thematic analysis (TA), the major themes extracted in this study relate to submissiveness and docility, gender equality and empowerment, and structural inequalities culminating in discrimination. These themes were found to be influential in the lives of Afghan women refugees. Drawing from the discussions surrounding human security, gender security, SDGs 5 (gender equality) and 10 (reduced inequalities), the key findings suggest that women in camps have cocooned lives, and their patriarchal cultural set-up perpetuates gender-spatial segregation which consequently limits women’s opportunities to access and traverse spaces other than their immediate residential location (camps). In addition, they are deprived of seeking education outside the radius of the camps and are not allowed to have mobile phones. Consequently, this limits their worldview. Given these circumstances, it is pertinent to extend facilitation to refugee women in Pakistan within a holistic framework.
... Importantes estudos feministas nas RI adotam o modelo de pesquisa do mainstream, recorrendo a indicadores estatísticos variados sobre gênero e a modelos probabilísticos para testar relações de causalidade (Caprioli, 2004;Hudson et al., 2014). Destacam-se, nessa linha de pesquisa científica, os estudos de segurança que utilizam indicadores de igualdade de gênero em suas diversas dimensões (política, social e econômica) como proxies para compreender as relações, por exemplo, entre segurança das mulheres e segurança dos Estados (Caprioli, 2000(Caprioli, , 2005Caprioli e Boyer, 2001;Melander, 2005); violência sexual e conflitos (Butler et al. 2007;Cohen, 2013;Wood, 2006); e opinião pública e conflito internacional (Tessler e Warriner, 1997;Tessler, Nachtwey e Grant, 1999), apenas para citar alguns. Tais pesquisas fundamentam-se no uso de modelos estatísticos para a construção de explicações causais, frequentemente em uma dimensão comparativa. ...
Resumo Como a curiosidade feminista aprofunda as reflexões epistemológicas e metodológicas nos estudos feministas nas RI, de modo a produzir pesquisas críticas e engajadas com as mulheres e os sujeitos generificados? A partir de uma discussão filosófica, argumento que a curiosidade feminista fornece o instrumental crítico para interpelar acerca do quem, onde e como nas pesquisas feministas e de gênero, estabelecendo, com isso, rumos epistemológicos e metodológicos alicerçados na natureza reflexiva dos feminismos. Ademais, apresento um panorama bibliométrico da produção feminista recente em dois periódicos brasileiros de RI, de modo a avaliar como a curiosidade feminista ali se manifesta. Concluo que a pesquisa feminista no país assume uma postura crítica vis-à-vis a literatura euroamericana, centrando-se epistemológica e tematicamente nas abordagens do Sul Global.
... It is also associated with positive health outcomes such as declines in child mortality and malnutrition (Thomas, Contreras, and Frankenberg 1997). Politically, increased women's rights leads to decreased corruption (Kaufmann 1998), less likelihood of use of force in international disputes (Caprioli 2003), and decreased likelihood of internal conflict (Melander 2005;Caprioli 2005). As one study concluded "(G)ive women equal rights and entire nations are more stable and secure. ...
What effect do peacekeeping operations (PKOs) have on women’s empowerment? The gendered consequences of peacekeeping have long been an issue of contention. Stung by multiple cases of peacekeepers directly engaging in sexual exploitation and abuse, the United Nations took measures to mainstream gender equality within PKO goals, ranging from protection from sexual violence to the encouragement of female participation in peacebuilding processes. Yet while a growing body of research has begun to provide insights into the gendered aspects of the PKOs themselves, much less is known about the broader gendered impact of PKOs on the host countries. To better understand these effects, we examine the extent to which PKOs serve to advance female empowerment in terms of women’s participation in official political channels as well as women’s civil liberties and active involvement in civil society participation. Examining these linkages from 1970–2013, we find that multidimensional PKOs are conducive to growing levels of women’s empowerment, though such growth decreases considerably after the conclusion of the PKO.
... About 50 percent of working-age women participate in the labor force, which is significantly lower than the ratio of 80 percent for men. Overcoming the barriers that hinder women's participation in the labor markets and, hence, boosting female labor force participation can stimulate economic growth and stability (Ostry and others 2018;Petersson and others 2017;Woetzel and others 2015;Caprioli 2005;Demeritt and others 2014;Teignier 2016, 2018;Bandara 2015;Gonzales and others 2015b;Hakura and others 2016). ...
... manifestation of gender inequality, has also negative consequences such as lower economic growth (Klasen & Lamanna, 2009) or higher probability of violent conflicts (Caprioli, 2005). Overall, it is a foregone economic opportunity, particularly when the female population has education attainments at par with males. ...
The paper studies the effects of abolishing fees in the public childcare facilities on the maternal labor supply and provides evidence from a post‐Soviet developing country, Armenia, characterized with low female labor force participation and high unemployment. The reform unexpectedly introduced only in the capital city created a natural experiment which we investigate using difference‐in‐differences methodology. The statistically significant increase of the childcare service utilization is shown to be affecting only marginally the maternal labor supply as measured by intention‐to‐treat effects. The positive results are more robust when only women actually utilizing the services are considered, but all the effects obtained fade out already in the second year after the reform. The robustness of our findings is tested by a series of placebo regressions.
... Women are more likely to invest more of their resources into their children, which in turn yields greater school expenditures and higher school enrollment for children (Aguirre and others 2012). Other studies have shown that gender gaps contribute to instability and fragility, and poor governance (Caprioli, 2005;Branisa and others, 2013). ...
... -періоду гібридних викликів і військової агресії РФ по відношенню до України. Результати пошуків певним чином підтвердили висновки західних колег щодо взаємозалежності показників людської незахищеності та здатності окремої території до протистояння насильницькому конфлікту (Caprioli, 2005). Так, А. Еквел доведено, що стимулювання ґендерної рівності -найважливіший компонент у запобіганні насильницького конфлікту, оскільки ґендерна рівність пов'язана з більш стійким розвитком і нижчим рівнем міжособистісного насильства, що, у свою чергу, зменшує ймовірність конфлікту (Ekvall, 2013). ...
Based on Big Data technology, a content analysis of Internet content for the period 2013-2020 was made. Promoting gender equality has been shown to be the most important component in preventing violent conflict, as gender equality is associated with more sustainable development and lower levels of interpersonal violence. It is determined that the activity of anti-gender movements in the period 2013-2020 can be considered a strategic information operation aimed at radicalizing society according to the concept of FAMILY VALUES and promoting pro-Russian ideology by analogy with «staples» («skrepi»).
... The literature also finds positive association between financial inclusion and economic growth, and reducing gender inequality in financial access, including through fintech, can thus help increase economic growth, particularly in countries with low levels of financial inclusion (Sahay and others, 2015;Sahay and others, 2020). There is also evidence that female leadership, including as financial regulators, is associated with financial and political stability (Sahay and others, 2018;Caprioli, 2005). ...
... Following this initial research and a series of tests, we decided to add an index of female empowerment to the current list of predictor variables. Previous research has found a strong correlation between gender inequality and conflict risk (Caprioli, 2005), while the broader involvement of women in societal decision-making is viewed as an important ingredient for peace (GIWPS andPRIO, 2019, Crespo-Sancho, 2017). Even though the causal link between gender inequality and conflict remains difficult to establish, it can still be seen as a useful indicator for inequality and repression more generally. ...
This report introduces the revised Global Conflict Risk Index (GCRI) and documents the changes and improvements made in the latest update. Our work involved a thorough revision of the GCRI’s input data and methodology that resulted in the following changes: We (1) adopted a new set of conflict definitions for the outcome variable; (2) significantly reduced missing values by replacing several input data sources; (3) selected a new modelling framework for conflict intensities following a systematic comparison of 14 probability and intensity models; and (4) improved the GCRI’s forecasts by incorporating short-term projections of predictor variables. We demonstrate that these revisions improved the GCRI’s predictive performance. We conclude with a discussion of limitations and tasks for further research.
... This is because pre-existing norms are still in place in the form of customary laws, that might have contributed to gender inequality; these customary laws hold more credence than statutory laws. Furthermore, and according to Caprioli's (2005) hypothesis, countries that display high levels of gender inequality are more likely to be associated with conflict. Structural inequalities are understood to reflect power imbalances that have been institutionalized into the social order. ...
Across the globe, a growing number of social movements, such as demonstrations in support of equal civil status or reproductive freedom and against sexualized violence, show that women's and gender rights are highly contested. Against the backdrop of a long history of unequal rights implementation, the contributors to this volume deal with the questions of why and in which ways gender equality has become contested in various political contexts. Local case studies examine the relevant structural, institutional, and socio-cultural causes of the global challenges to equality. This book follows an interdisciplinary approach and unites scholars from law, linguistics, cultural studies, history, social sciences, and gender studies in diverse contexts.
... In addition to that, there is a literature on the effect of sexism and patriarchy on the outbreak of violence. Caprioli (2005), for example, argues that gender inequality, and a population with overwhelmingly patriarchal views on gender, has an effect on intrastate conflict.73 Notwithstanding the criticisms of such an argument, i.e. that such a relationship may in fact be mediated by factors such as state capacity, views on gender are considered somewhat predictive of violence. ...
What determines support for violent versus nonviolent strategies? I argue that strategy preference is motivated by an individuals’ assessment of their society’s cohesion. Perception of strong social cohesion, as existing literature argues, should increase individual support for nonviolence, as it gives people confidence that their society will be able to carry out that strategy effectively. I build on this work to show that perception of social cohesion does not always reflect individual conditions; in situations where social cohesion is weak, violence becomes attractive specifically to those who recognize this reality. The paper tests these arguments in the case of Palestine, using survey data and experimental methods, specifically polling data from the Arab Opinion Index in the West Bank and Gaza. The evidence shows that individuals who perceive society to be more cohesive prefer violence less. However, respondents may perceive social cohesion as weak, even while they personally enjoy strong social ties and greater social embeddedness. In this scenario, they are more likely to prefer armed resistance because they use their social ties to gain information and assess risk more effectively. Individuals who are networked in political power structures, members of political parties and those with higher levels of education, are those that both enjoy greater social ties and prefer violence to nonviolence. Their social situation helps them to recognize the weakness of social cohesion in society at large and, based on this perception, make certain choices. This suggests that violence in the Palestinian territories is not a spontaneous eruption, but rather a strategic choice that individuals endorse on the basis of a reasoned assessment of available options and constraints.
... Given these rivalrous outcomes (bilateral vs. third-party settlement), we estimate a competitive risk model (CRM) where we examine whether greater gender inclusion increases the risk that territorial settlement attempts end bilaterally compared to third-party assistance. Based on past work on gender inclusion and armed conflict, we rely on the commonly used women representation in national legislatures as our measure of the representation of women (Caprioli 2005;Shair-Rosenfield and Wood 2017;Best, Shair-Rosenfield, and Wood 2019). Using the Women in Parliament data, we measure gender by the combined percentage of women legislators at the start of negotiations between the two countries (women representation) and the absolute difference in the representation of women between the two countries at the start of negotiations (asymmetric representation), logging both variables to address skewness in the data. ...
Research shows that the inclusion of women in negotiations and conflict resolution efforts contributes to peaceful solutions to disputes and armed conflict. Yet we know little about how women contribute to peacebuilding. What, specifically, are women doing to help produce more peaceful outcomes? We present evidence from an international bargaining experiment showing that women contribute to peace by seeking more equitable and symmetrical solutions, even if these provide lower material payoffs. Critically, however, women are willing to give up on asymmetric advantage only when they negotiate with other women. The gender composition of negotiation dyads also significantly influences the duration of negotiations. Statistical analysis of historical territorial disputes probes the external validity of these results, offering suggestive complementary evidence. The main policy implication of our findings is that bilateral disputes will be settled more efficiently and equitably when both sides are represented by women. Our findings should encourage scholars to develop dyadic, not monadic, models of how gender affects international negotiations.
La investigación demuestra que la inclusión de las mujeres en las negociaciones y en los esfuerzos de resolución de conflictos contribuye a conseguir soluciones pacíficas a las disputas y los conflictos armados. Sin embargo, sabemos poco sobre cómo contribuyen las mujeres a la construcción de la paz. ¿Qué hacen en concreto las mujeres para ayudar a conseguir resultados más pacíficos? Presentamos pruebas de un experimento de negociación internacional que demuestran que las mujeres contribuyen a la paz al buscar soluciones más equitativas y simétricas, aunque estas proporcionen menores beneficios materiales. No obstante, las mujeres están dispuestas a renunciar a la ventaja asimétrica solo cuando negocian con otras mujeres. La composición de género de las díadas de negociación también influye de modo considerable en la duración de las negociaciones. El análisis estadístico de las disputas territoriales históricas examina la validez externa de estos resultados, ofreciendo pruebas complementarias sugerentes. La principal implicación política de nuestras conclusiones es que las disputas bilaterales se resolverán de forma más eficaz y equitativa cuando ambas partes estén representadas por mujeres. Nuestras conclusiones deberían animar a los investigadores a desarrollar modelos diádicos, no monádicos, sobre cómo el género afecta a las negociaciones internacionales.
La recherche a démontré que l’inclusion de femmes dans les processus de négociations et les initiatives de résolution des conflits contribue à déboucher sur des solutions pacifiques aux désaccords et aux conflits armés. Pourtant, nous disposons de peu d’informations sur la manière dont les femmes participent au maintien de la paix. Que font précisément les femmes pour produire des résultats davantage orientés vers une résolution pacifique? Nous nous appuyons sur une expérience de négociations internationales démontrant que les femmes contribuent à la paix par la recherche de solutions plus équitables et symétriques, y compris lorsque ces dernières impliquent des gains matériels moindres. Il convient cependant de noter que les femmes sont enclines à abandonner un avantage asymétrique uniquement lorsqu’elles négocient avec d’autres femmes. Par ailleurs, la composition des dyades de négociation en termes de genres a une influence considérable sur la durée des négociations en question. Une analyse statistique de conflits territoriaux historiques démontre la validité externe de ces résultats et constitue une preuve supplémentaire significative. La principale implication politique de nos conclusions est que les conflits bilatéraux sont résolus de manière plus efficace et plus équitable lorsque les deux parties sont représentées par des femmes. Nos travaux ont donc vocation à encourager les chercheur·euses à développer des modèles dyadiques, et non monadiques, pour comprendre la manière dont le genre affecte les négociations internationales.
... Norms relating to empowerment in peace processes have expanded to include women. While women themselves may not serve as an identity group that mobilizes cohesively and takes up arms against their government in an effort to address societal grievances aimed at them specifically, 7 research suggests that female empowered societies are less war prone (Caprioli and Boyer 2001;Caprioli 2005;Melander 2005). It is not surprising that peace process practitioners have also embraced power-sharing mechanisms that aim to increase the presence of women actors in governing and social structures. ...
In 2000, The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 actively promoted the inclusion of women and their perspectives in peace processes, as well as promoted a gender perspective in post-conflict recovery and institution building. The number of gender provisions in civil war peace agreements has increased since 2001 as a result, but not all such provisions serve the same purpose. In this study, we present a provision typology that divides gender provisions into those that seek to empower women and compare them to those that address conflict victimization. We suggest that the context under which the peace agreement takes place, and conditions of the conflict itself, should influence where empowerment and victimization provisions are employed if they are to have the type of impact sought by the UNSC and improve post-conflict outcomes. We test our propositions on all civil war peace agreements occurring between 1990-2018. Findings indicate that gender provisions designed to empower women are unlikely to emerge in societies where they are perhaps most needed. Comparatively, it appears there is less resistance to gender provisions aimed at addressing conflict-related victimization.
... Evidence suggests that maternal mortality is much higher in poorer strata due to a lack of proper medical assistance: limited access to maternity services; inadequate HIV services; long distances to facilities; lack of basic information; and lack of emergency obstetric care and others (Aguirre et al., 2019;Caprioli, 2005). It is demonstrated in the text in the case of Chinnamma, who died of septic shock caused by an agricultural sickle cutting her umbilical cord during childbirth. ...
Violence remains one of modern society’s most pressing global public health issues. As a result, the current study’s objective is to examine the text, The Gypsy Goddess, in the concept of Structural Violence, which is one of the most lethal forms of violence, from a broader perspective in terms of political, economic, gender and health aspects. The methodology of the study incorporates a documentary text, The Gypsy Goddess by Meena Kandasamy, which aids with the illustrations of actual records and a survey of the victims of the Kilvenmani massacre, which happened in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, in which poor agricultural peasants were burned alive by wealthy landlords. The study’s major findings offer a comprehensive look at the physical and psychological causes and consequences of underlying Structural Violence processes worldwide with reference to the select text. According to the text, the study’s findings suggest that structural violence contributing factors are multifaceted and systemic. Besides, it reveals that people’s collective efforts, combined with modified legal interventions, can help combat Structural Violence by creating awareness and providing impoverished communities with adequate services and resources.
Purpose
Businesses are increasingly engaged in actions to support peace in conflict- and violence-affected communities. Yet there is limited knowledge about why business leaders engage in peace or how citizens perceive the importance, efficacy and impacts of business contributions to address conflict and violence. These gaps are particularly acute for small business scholarship. This paper aims to address these.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper considers how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) view their peace-positive actions and how these are perceived by communities. This paper examines this by using two original primary surveys conducted concurrently in May 2021 in Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia. Question themes included: SMEs operating environments, relationships and networks, experiences of violence, SMEs community contributions and citizen perceptions of businesses as peacebuilding agents.
Findings
The results show that small business leaders who supported their communities with peace-positive actions saw their businesses perform better and held positive views of the benefits of engagement. Further, citizen perceptions of businesses contributions to peace declined where insecurity increased and improved where businesses – and in particular MSMSEs – engaged more in their communities.
Research limitations/implications
This paper discusses certain limitations related to the use of a mobile-phone based sampling methodology enumerated during an ongoing pandemic.
Originality/value
This paper presents an original contribution that examines both SME and citizen perceptions of businesses peace-positive actions. The findings inform notions of SME leadership in fragile contexts, as well as the role of the private sector in conflict spaces more generally. They also suggest a greater focus on understanding the broader perceptions of businesses actions toward peacebuilding within society.
Geographically, the state of Pakistan is located between the regions of South Asia, Middle East, and the Central Asia. Being a multiethnic state, it is facing with different kinds of problems, namely, violence, ethnic conflicts, and borderline dispute since the time of its birth. The Pakistan's multiethnic groups have their own ideology and philosophies resulting to national security dilemma, all these problems hinder the prosperity and progress of Pakistan. The severe ethnic conflicts in Pakistan have become internationalized which jeopardizes the sovereignty of Pakistan. This article identifies a framework for understanding the said problems facing the Pakistan government. Theoretical and ethnographic data analysis revealed that Pakistan is facing two conflicts problems with two manifestations: internationalization from inside and internationalization from outside. It is suggested that investment and capital should be transferred to the grass root level, and the Pakistan government should provide equal opportunity to the multiethnic groups in Pakistan geared towards their empowerment and to reduce the diverse negative effects of the said problems which Pakistan have.
Abstracts
What effect does sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) reporting by the United Nations (UN) have on the actions of peacekeeping missions’ troop and police contributing countries (TPCCs)? While past scholarship has studied the effect of naming and shaming for states’ human rights records, we examine the relationship between the UN’s reporting on human rights abuses committed by its Member States’ personnel and their policy and personnel responses. Focusing on SEA reporting within peacekeeping missions, we theorize the ways in which the UN’s reporting of SEA may lead to two distinct responses: TPCCs may issue legal frameworks to demonstrate compliance and address SEA, or they may withdraw from peacekeeping missions by reducing their personnel commitments. Using an original, cross-national dataset of UN reporting on SEA allegations and the patterns of framework issuance and personnel commitments among TPCCs (2010–2020), we find that TPCCs with SEA reports are more likely to issue legal frameworks and to reduce personnel contributions than their nonreported counterparts, and that this relationship is particularly strong following the first instance of reporting. With targeted TPCCs demonstrating both greater policy compliance and personnel withdrawal, our findings highlight the dynamic impact that UN reporting for SEA can have on the actions of TPCCs.
The article aims to outline the trends of gender professional segregation occurring in Ukraine during the military conflict. Materials and Methods. The research was carried out with the use of qualitative methods. A content analysis was chosen for this study. The material consists of online textual publications, which include interviews with managers, specialists, and employees of the State Employment Center. It also includes interviews in which women residing on the territory of Ukraine share their experiences of employment and work during the war. Results and Discussion. In Ukraine today, two factors operate in parallel. On the one hand, there is an urgent need to fill vacancies in professions that have traditionally been dominated by men. On the other hand, the financial situation of women is on the decline. Women are forced to rethink their gender identity in the family and in society because of financial difficulties and their inability to guarantee a minimum of financial stability for themselves and their families. This leads them to be willing to accept jobs with working conditions that are particularly harmful and difficult. Employment opportunities for women are increasing due to differentiated demand, which contributes to the reduction of horizontal gender segregation. One factor that impedes this process is the demand for professions traditionally considered women’s domains, which do not require basic skills, and for which demand increased during the war. These professions are mainly related to manufacturing and working specialties. Given that educated and skilled women occupy blue-collar jobs, we can expect vertical segregation to intensify during wartime, when gender differences are manifested in positions and roles with differing status or potential for advancement. In the area of state gender policy, Ukraine has business development initiatives that reduce the gender gap in women’s access to assets and capital to invest in profitable entrepreneurial industries. However, these initiatives only involve a limited number of women and cannot be associated with radical gender changes in society. At the same time, the positive aspects of reducing horizontal gender segregation observed in Ukraine during wartime may be negated by the lack of or insufficient incentives for the development of preschool education. Thus, there are few effective levers to overcome gender segregation in Ukraine in the short and medium term. Achieving gender equality in the labor market is practically declaratory. Conclusions. In the context of the wartime crisis, gender segregation is a significant issue with negative consequences. A market specifically for women’s labor is emerging, and the social status of women’s work is declining compared to pre-war times. This situation may reinforce societal stereotypes that view men as more suitable for leadership positions, potentially decreasing women’s motivation and career aspirations.
International criminal law (ICL) has traditionally overlooked sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and struggles to understand it. Prosecutions have been largely inefficient and not reflective of gender harms. The Rome Statute requires interpreting SGBV as a social construction (article 7(3)), in consistency with international human rights law (IHRL) and without discrimination (article 21(3)). There is, however, little guidance to implement these approaches. This article argues that intersectionality, an IHRL-based approach that reveals compounded discrimination, is an efficient tool to interpret SGBV and, therefore, should be integrated in ICL. The article traces the origins of intersectionality in feminism and its recognition by IHRL dealing with violence against women. It establishes the applicability of intersectionality in ICL that it demonstrates with a comparative analysis of the Lubanga and Ntaganda cases. The findings show that intersectionality suits ICL’s specific needs which allows labelling and explaining some of those contributions throughout the judicial process.
If more women were put in states’ leadership positions, would there be fewer militarised interstate disputes? The findings of this study suggest an affirmative answer to this question but for reasons that are different from the arguments associating women with peace. We derive our expectations from the ‘role incongruity’ perspective detailing the impact of gender stereotypes on individuals’ assessment of leaders and their decisions. Due to gendered expectations of leadership, ‘role incongruity’ can contribute to the escalation of militarised disputes in state dyads where one leader is male and the other is female, but its impact is mitigated in joint women-led state dyads. Our contributions to the scholarship on gender and conflict lie in illuminating theoretically how the threats arising from gender stereotypes can be reduced in all-women dyads and testing this relationship on state dyads between years 1966 and 2014.
Armed conflict and violence are gendered. In other words, women, men, girls, boys, and people of diverse gender identities have different experiences of conflict and violence; and gender identities, gender relations, and gender norms help shape conflict and violence. Given that armed conflict and violence are gendered, it is vital that efforts to understand, prevent, and respond to conflict and violence, and to build peace and security, take these different experiences into account. This entry reflects on the gendered dynamics of armed conflict and the harms that arise when gender is ignored or conflict, peace, and security are viewed in a gendered binary way.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of gender inequality (GIQ) on burnout (BR) among female healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia by incorporating the moderation effect of managerial role (MR) and internal relationship (IR). Methods: Survey-based research was conducted through non-probability sampling and a sample of 112 participants was utilized for analysis. Using AMOS, data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results: The findings showed that a positive and significant relationship existed between GIQ and BR in female healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, the moderating impact of MR and IR was found to be significant. However, while the MR strengthened the positive association between GIQ and BR, the IR suppressed the positive association between the two. Conclusion: The study provides implications for managers, healthcare workers, and policymakers to put greater efforts into reducing GIQ for an improved work environment and reduced burnout for female healthcare workers.
Violence against women is present across cultures, historical periods, and political systems; it occurs in contexts of the politicization of ethnicity, wars, and criminal activity, as well as in the private sphere of the home and family. Feminist social theory locates it in (gendered) power asymmetries that manifest themselves at both micro‐ and macro‐ levels. Many scholars regard the varied manifestations of violence against women as examples of structural violence ; that is, rooted in unequal gender relations, patriarchal laws and norms, economic difficulties, and geopolitics, rather than solely in individual pathology. This entry provides an overview of the literature on violence against women, the theories that frame the issue, and collective action to end violence against women in all its forms.
Based on a systematic and empirical comparative study of six European Union countries, Christel Querton explores judicial decision-making in the context of persons fleeing armed conflicts in the EU. Addressing and redressing misconceptions about the relevance of the Refugee Convention, this book demonstrates how appellate authorities across the EU approach situations of armed conflict predominantly through outdated understandings of warfare and territoriality. Thus, they apply a higher standard of proof than is warranted by international refugee law. Adopting a gender perspective, Querton also shows how appellate authorities fail to acknowledge the gender-differentiated impact of armed conflicts. Drawing from gender and security studies, this book proposes an original conceptual framework which, supported by existing international legal standards, reframes the definition of 'refugee' and better reflects the reality of violence in modern-day conflicts. In doing so, it re-asserts the Refugee Convention as the cornerstone of international protection.
Despite conflict's violent and deleterious impacts, scholarship increasingly demonstrates that women's political rights at the macro-level increase after conflict. However, relatively less is understood about how conflict impacts women's security at the micro-level, especially regarding how it impacts men's and women's attitudes toward intimate partner violence. While conflict can challenge traditional gender roles that justify wife beating, it also promotes hypermasculinity, normalizes violence, and leads to backlash against women in an attempt to re-establish traditional gender hierarchies. International actors, particularly through aid, moderate the impact of conflict on attitudes toward wife beating by encouraging progressive gender roles and increasing socio-economic development. Using Demographic Health Survey data in Uganda, this analysis compares the influence of conflict and international aid at the microlevel on approval of wife beating. The results demonstrate that women exposed to both conflict and aid are relatively less likely to approve of wife beating relative to women exposed to conflict alone. In contrast, men exposed to violence and aid do not alter their justification of wife beating. This study clarifies how conflict impacts attitudes toward women's rights at the microlevel.
The social intricacies of male–female relationships are discussed in this chapter, as well as power manifestation, exercise and disparities between men and women within the gendered perception of women in Northern Ghana. The chapter highlights how power privileges between women and men can impact their respective livelihoods, options and choices. Gender relationships in the study location were subjective and skewed in favour of men. The data shows that male lineage hierarchies, division of labour and unequal power distribution between women and men appear to compel women into substandard sociopolitical class in personal and civic spheres. This has led to overreliance on men for women’s social and political status attainment and economic survival. The chapter further discusses the constitutional response to gender inequality in Northern Ghana.KeywordsGenderPatriarchalNorthern GhanaPower and inequality
Studies have established that a majority of national constitutions since 1789 last an average of 17 years. Given this short life expectancy of contemporary constitutions, the 30 years that Ghana’s 1992 Constitution has been in force is a great feat worth celebrating. This chapter applauds Ghana’s constitutional milestone by recounting the Ghanaian experience under the Fourth Republic over the past three decades. It highlights the achievements that should be continued and the shortcomings that need to be worked on. It also makes a case for preserving Ghana’s constitutional longevity and sanctity by timeously amending the relevant provisions in 1992 Constitution to meet the country’s current needs. It emphasises the promise and potential that Ghana’s democracy holds as a pacesetter in Africa.
This volume analyses democratic governance, the rule of law and development in Africa. It is unique and timely. First, the theme and sub-themes were carefully selected to solicit quality chapters from academics, practitioners and graduate students on topical and contemporary issues in constitutional law, human rights, and democratic governance in Africa. The chapters were subjected to a single-blind peer review by experts and scholars in the relevant fields to ensure that high quality submissions are included. Due to the dearth of knowledge and studies on the chosen thematic areas, the publication will remain relevant after several years due to the timeless themes it covers. In this regard, this edited volume audits the progress of democratic consolidation, rule of law and development in Ghana with selected case studies from other African countries. This book is intended for higher education institutions (universities, institutes and centres), public libraries, general academics, practitioners and students of law, democracy, human rights and political science, especially those interested in African affairs.
Why were some, but not all the Arab mass social protests of 2011 accompanied by relatively quick and nonviolent outcomes in the direction of regime change, democracy, and social transformation? Why was a democratic transition limited to Tunisia, and why did region-wide democratization not occur? After the Arab Uprisings offers an explanatory framework to answer these central questions, based on four key themes: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women's mobilizations, and external influence. Applying these to seven cases: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Valentine M. Moghadam and Shamiran Mako highlight the salience of domestic and external factors and forces, uniquely presenting women's legal status, social positions, and organizational capacity, along with the presence or absence of external intervention, as key elements in explaining the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, and extending the analysis to the present day.
This article examines the departure and broader marginalisation of staff with parental and other caring responsibilities from peacebuilding organisations. By drawing from the results of a global survey with peacebuilding practitioners, this research highlights the practical, organisational, cultural, and normative challenges that cause this marginalisation and the resultant individual, organisational, and sectoral harms. The article argues that the resultant harms are highly gendered and extend beyond the individual peacebuilder to the peacebuilding work being undertaken and the type of peace being built. This demands an ethics of care in peacebuilding is advanced, and peacebuilding organisations direct the ‘care lens’ inwards.
Coherent democracies and harshly authoritarian states have few civil wars, and intermediate regimes are the most conflict-prone. Domestic violence also seems to be associated with political change, whether toward greater democracy or greater autocracy. Is the greater violence of intermediate regimes equivalent to the finding that states in political transition experience more violence? If both level of democracy and political change are relevant, to what extent is civil violence related to each? Based on an analysis of the period 1816-1992, we conclude that intermediate regimes are most prone to civil war, even when they have had time to stabilize from a regime change. In the long run, since intermediate regimes are less stable than autocracies, which in turn are less stable than democracies, durable democracy is the most probable end-point of the democratization process. The democratic civil peace is not only more just than the autocratic peace but also more stable.
Data from 152 countries from 1950 to 1992 are used to estimate the joint determination of external conflict, internal conflict, and the business cycle. Results show that the occurrence of a recession alone will significantly increase the probability of internal conflict, and when combined with the occurrence of an external conflict, recessions will further increase the probability of internal conflict. These results are obtained from estimates of a Markov probability model in which transitions between states of peace and conflict influence each other and the state of the economy. Strong evidence emerges that the internal conflict, external conflict, and the state of the economy are not independent of one another. The results suggest that recessions can provide the spark for increased probabilities of internal and external conflict, which in turn raise the probability of recessions. Such dynamics are suggestive of a poverty-conflict trap-like environment.
This study examines the relationships among cultural factors, contiguity, and the onset of interstate war. These concerns are nested within a larger debate about “ethnic conflict” that assumes the salience of cultural variables in interstate conflict. Arguing that much of the research on ethnic conflict assumes rather than demonstrates the salience of cultural factors on conflict, the analysis is grounded in a comparison of the relative weight of ethnic and religious similarity among state dyads in predicting the frequency of interstate war. A logit regression is specified and tested for pairs of states in the system from 1820 to 1989. Controlling for contiguity, ethnic similarity has a direct association with war, whereas religious dissimilarity is inversely correlated with war. Cultural variables are neither monolithic nor unidirectional in their impact on conflict. Scholars should eschew the promulgation of problematic categories such as ethnic conflict and instead move toward systematically determining the salience of ethnic and religious factors in international conflict.
Conflict has been a feature of human society since time immemorial. Disputes that arise may be organized around social class, ethnicity, religion, region, or some combination of these factors. The struggle can be over economic opportunities, as well as political and civil rights, among other contestable factors. In peaceful societies, conflict is channelled into nonviolent means and institutions for both its expression and resolution. Civil war is not necessarily irrational, but a product of certain objectives, therefore amenable to rational-choice analysis. In low-income countries, civil war makes poverty reduction and growth difficult to achieve. Many contemporary civil wars have an ethnic dimension, as ethnicity is a strong uniting force. Grievances, therefore, play a major part in contemporary conflict, but greed - the desire to control resources and capture rents - also enters into the calculus of conflict. Ultimately, open warfare cannot emerge inside a society with a functioning social contract, as greed and grievances are managed and conflict is contained in countries with properly operating institutions. Consequently, conflict resolution requires the reconstitution of the social contract.
This article investigates the relationship between multiethnicity and domestic conflict from 1946 to 1992. Multiethnicity is measured by the size of the largest ethnic group, the number of ethnic groups, the size of the largest ethnic minority group, and ethnic affinities to groups outside the country. Although ethnic heterogeneity is expected to stimulate conflict, other factors may alleviate ethnic tension. Moreover, most countries are heterogeneous in one way or another and yet do not engage in violent conflict. The type of political regime and the socioeconomic level within the country become important here. Using data for two different types of domestic conflict, the article concludes that multiethnicity does increase the propensity of domestic violence, although less so for large-scale conflicts. Such cultural factors seem to have become more important in the post-cold war period. However, the country's political regime and socioeconomic level are more important in predicting domestic conflict.
Previously the role of social capital - defined as the institutions and networks of relationships between people, and the associated norms and values - in programs of poverty alleviation and development has risen to considerable prominence. Although development practitioners have long suspected that social capital does affect the efficiency and quality of most development processes, this book provides the rigorous empirical results needed to confirm that impression and translate it into effective and informed policymaking. It is based on a large volume of collected data, relying equally on quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to establish approaches for measuring social capital and its impact. The book documents the pervasive role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development, facilitating the provision of goods and services, and easing political transition and recovery from civil conflicts.
There is a powerful tension between the context-specific analyses which figure prominently in anthropology — and other social sciences — in recent years, and the emphasis on universal human dynamics which characterizes crosscultural psychology. These differences are reflected in each approach’s principal goals, concepts, theories and methods. However, there are good reasons to think that a synthesis of elements of both the particularisms of contextual analysis and the generalizations of crosscultural psychology offers richer explanations than either might provide alone.
Professor Mazrui, Reith Lecturer and presenter of BBC1's "The Africans", makes us reconsider the realities of power in world politics. He argues that the emphasis continues to be on arms, on resources and on strategic calculations and that the importance of culture has been grossly underestimated. Professor Mazrui's own mind is a cultural cross-roads; he can give Islamic insights to Western audiences about "The Satanic Verses"; he relates the Beijing Spring to the Palestinian Intifada; he compares the effects of Zionism and Apartheid; he puts together Muhammad, Marx and market forces; and he tells the Americans that their attitude to the Third World is "a dialogue of the deaf".
Part I. Introduction: 1. Theoretical overview 2. Scarcity and inequality Part II. State Formation and Dissolution: 3. Warfare and the origins of the state 4. Decline and fall of empires and states Part III. Democracy: 5. The timing of the social problem and democratization 6. Failures of state formation and democratization 7. Sources of democracy Part IV. Violence and Cooperation: 8. Inequality and political violence 9. Equality and cooperation or helping: Part V. Conclusion: 10. Paradoxes of democracy and state survivability Appendices Notes Bibliography Index.
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This chapter sets forth a general theory of gender stratification. While both biological and ideological variables are taken into account, the emphasis is structural: It is proposed that the major independent variable affecting sexual inequality is each sex's economic power, understood as relative control over the means of production and allocation of surplus. For women, relative economic power is seen as varying-and not always in the same direction-at a variety of micro- and macrolevels, ranging from the household to the state. A series of propositions links the antecedents of women's relative economic power, the interrelationship between economic and other forms of power, and the forms of privilege and opportunity into which each gender can translate its relative power.
This book covers some essential topics of econometrics. It covers from single regression to multiple regression. The second part of the book talks about how to detect a violation of assumptions (multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, model specification) made for running multiple regression and what the remedies are. The third part deals with three topics, including (a) regression on dummy variables, (b) regression on dummy dependent variables, (c) autoregressive and distributed lag models. The last part deals with simultaneous-equation model.
Reconstructs the history of political struggles women launched in Asia and the Middle East from the late 19th century onwards, in Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. Distinguishes between the growth of feminism, the movement for women's emancipation, and women's participation in the wider national and revolutionary struggles that took place. Many Third World women from the emerging national bourgeoisie did join the struggles for national liberation. Some stressed emancipation issues, equal rights, and legal reforms to end discrimination against women within the existing social structures. Other women raised more basic feminist issues concerning Muslim and Asian women's subordination in the family and the structures of society generally. These women fought for the right to control their own lives in the home and outside, and to change those social institutions that contributed to their subordination.-from Vedams Books, New Delhi 5
In an effort to contribute to the dialogue between gender studies and international studies, this report presents findings from an empirical investigation based on the integrated secondary analysis of survey data from Israel, Egypt, Palestine, and Kuwait. The goal is to assess the utility of both gender and attitudes pertaining to the circumstances of women in accounting for variance in views about war and peace, and thereafter to examine the degree to which political system attributes constitute conditionalities associated with important variable relationships. Major findings include the absence of gender-linked differences in attitudes toward international conflict in all four of the societies studied and a significant relationship in each of these societies between attitudes toward gender equality and attitudes toward international conflict. Based on data from the Arab world and Israel, with attitudes about a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict treated as the dependent variable, the research also aspires to shed light on more practical considerations pertaining to the international relations of the Middle East.
This study quantitatively tests the relationship between state militarism and domestic gender equality. International relations literature on the impact and potential impact of women on foreign policy suggests that women are more peaceful in that they are less likely than men to support the use of international violence. Other research indicates that a domestic environment of inequality results in state militarism on the international level. Both lines of inquiry suggest that a domestic environment of equality between women and men would lead toward greater state pacifism, and four hypotheses are developed to test this relationship. The Militarized Interstate Dispute dataset is used with hostility level as the dependent variable to measure the level of militarism employed by any given state to resolve international conflicts. Independent variables for gender equality include percent women in parliament, duration of female suffrage, percent women in the labor force, and fertility rate. Several control variables (alliances, contiguity, wealth, and democracy) are added to the multivariate logistic regressions, and all four hypotheses are confirmed. This study substantiates the theory that domestic gender equality has a pacifiying effect on state behavior on the international level.
Quantitative studies of civil war have focused on war initiation (onset) or war duration and termination and produced important insights into these processes. An empirical analysis of civil war prevalence is used to show that the prevalence or amount of war observed at any given time is important. Civil war prevalence is defined as the probability of observing either a new war onset or the continuation of an ongoing war or both. Two economic theories of war onset and duration are combined to estimate the prevalence of civil war across more than 150 countries and over 40 years. The analysis is consistent with the findings of earlier studies on war onset and duration. New findings that result from slight improvements in the data and estimation methods show that democracy and ethnic diversity are significant determinants of civil war prevalence.
Zeev Maoz is Professor of Political Science and Head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is author of Domestic Sources of Global Change (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996).
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Israeli Political Science Association, Tel Aviv, May 28, 1995. I wish to thank Allison Astorino-Courtois, William Dixon, Ben Mor, John Oneal, James Lee Ray, Bruce Russett, and Gerrald Sorokin for their useful comments. Any errors are mine alone.
1. For reviews of this literature, see Bruce Russett, Grasping the Democratic Peace (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993); James Lee Ray, Democracy and International Conflict (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995); Michael E. Brown, Sean M. Lynn-Jones, and Steven E. Miller, eds., Debating the Democratic Peace (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996); and James Lee Ray, "The Pacifying Impact of Democracy: Indubitable or Chimerical?" Mimeo, Vanderbilt University (January 1997).
2. An example of this critique is given by John D. Mearsheimer, "Back to the Future: Instability in Europe After the Cold War," International Security, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Summer 1990), pp. 5-56. This study is not discussed here because it does not present empirical evidence to substantiate these claims. Other studies of this genre are discussed below.
3. Some of the first studies to examine the democratic peace issue hinted at the danger involved in extrapolating prescriptive guidelines from the fact that democracies seemingly do not fight each other. See Melvin Small and J. David Singer, "The War-Proneness of Democratic Regimes," Jerusalem Journal of International Relations, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April 1976), pp. 46-61, and Jack E. Vincent, "Freedom and International Conflict: Another Look," International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 1 (March 1987), pp. 103-112.
4. See, for example, the pessimistic status reports on international conflict and war in Ted Robert Gurr, ed., Handbook of Political Conflict (New York: Free Press, 1980), especially the articles by Dina Zinncs and Michael Stohl. Another more recent and basically pessimistic review is provided by Jack S. Levy, "The Causes of War: A Review of Theories and Evidence," in Philip E. Tetlock, Roy Radner, and Robert Axelrod, eds., Behavior, Society, and Nuclear War, Vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 209-333. One review that views the full half of the research glass is John A. Vasquez, The War Puzzle (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
5. Zeev Maoz, Domestic Sources of Global Change (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996), chaps. 1 and 7; Bruce Russett, "Processes of Dyadic Choice for War and Peace," World Politics, Vol. 47, No. 2 (January 1995), pp. 268-282; Bruce Russett, "And Yet It Moves," International Security, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Spring 1995), pp. 164-175; and Ray, Democracy and International Conflict.
6. Mearsheimer, "Back to the Future"; David E. Spiro, "The Insignificance of the Democratic Peace," International Security, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Summer 1994), pp. 50-86; and Henry Farber and Joanne Gowa, "Polities and Peace," International Security, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Summer 1995), pp. 123-146.
7. Spiro, "The Insignificance of the Democratic Peace," Appendix, pp. 82-86, column 9.
8. Zeev Maoz and Nasrin Abdolali, "Regime Type and International Conflict, 1816-1976," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 33, No. 1 (March 1989), p. 25.
9. Zeev Maoz and Bruce Russett, "Alliance, Wealth Contiguity, and Political Stability: Is the Lack of Conflict Between Democracies a Statistical Artifact?" International Interactions, Vol. 17, No. 4 (January 1992), pp. 245-267, and Zeev Maoz and Bruce Russett, "Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946-1986," American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. 3 (September 1993), pp. 624-638. Politically relevant dyads are dyads that are directly or indirectly contiguous or those in which one member is a major power with a global reach capacity or a regional power with a regional reach capacity.
10. I differ with James Lee Ray, "War Between Democracies: Rare or Nonexistent?" International Interactions, Vol. 18, No. 3 (September 1993), pp. 251-276, and Ray, Democracy and International Conflict, as well as with my findings in Maoz and Abdolali, "Regime Type...
A booming quantitative literature on large-scale political violence has identified important economic and political determinants of civil war. That literature has treated civil war as an aggregate category and has not considered if identity (ethnic/religious) wars have different causes than nonidentity wars. The author argues that this is an important distinction and that identity wars are due predominantly to political grievance rather than lack of economic opportunity. Ethnic heterogeneity is also associated differently with identity than nonidentity wars. Some systemic variables are also important determinants of civil war, and these have been neglected in the existing literature. An important new result is that living in a bad neighborhood, with undemocratic neighbors or neighbors at war, significantly increases a country's risk of experiencing ethnic civil war.
The problem of accounting for domestic political conflict, particularly in the less developed countries, has become an important global task. In the article, several conflict indicators are reviewed and embedded in a conceptual model. The regime's inability to provide economic and political goods is conceived as a source of discontent, or relative deprivation, within a population. This discontent is seen to be likely to result in conflict if the environment is conducive to the mobilization of resources for collective action. The validity of the indicators is tested with various techniques, including ordinary least squares, generalized least squares (error component), and Logit regression models, on a sample of 70 less developed countries in 1981-89. The dependent variables are (1) political conflict and its constituent parts, (2) political protest, (3) rebellion, and (4) irregular executive transfer. The overall extent of political conflict varies directly with poor economic performance, ethnic dominance, military centrality, urbanization and conflict tradition, inversely with the level of economic development, and is most extensive under middle levels of political authoritarianism. Economic performance seems to be more conducive to political protest and irregular executive transfer than rebellion. Urbanization and ethnic dominance are directly associated with political protest but decrease the likelihood of irregular executive transfer. The results generally corroborate the findings of 30 years of conflict research also in the Third-World context.
This article introduces a concept of `cultural violence', and can be seen as a follow-up of the author's introduction of the concept of `structural violence' over 20 years ago (Galtung, 1969). `Cultural violence' is defined here as any aspect of a culture that can be used to legitimize violence in its direct or structural form. Symbolic violence built into a culture does not kill or maim like direct violence or the violence built into the structure. However, it is used to legitimize either or both, as for instance in the theory of a Herrenvolk, or a superior race. The relations between direct, structural and cultural violence are explored, using a violence triangle and a violence strata image, with various types of casual flows. Examples of cultural violence are indicated, using a division of culture into religion and ideology, art and language, and empirical and formal science. The theory of cultural violence is then related to two basic points in Gandhism, the doctrines of unity of life and of unity of means and ends. Finally, the inclusion of culture as a major focus of peace research is seen not only as deepening the quest for peace, but also as a possible contribution to the as yet non-existent general discipline of `culturology'.
Do differences in basic values and concerns underlie differences in the issue positions of women and men? This article uses a decomposition approach to assess the contribution of male-female differences in basic values and concerns to the gender gap in support for the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in the 1988 Canadian federal election. Drawing on the work of Gilligan and other “difference” theorists, I theorize these differences in terms of “social woman” and “economic man.” The results support this interpretation. Men were more likely to bring economic considerations to bear in evaluating the agreement, whereas women's opinions were more likely to be influenced by their commitment to the welfare state and their greater concern for social programs. Women also proved to be more egalitarian and less persuaded of the virtues of competition and market solutions than were men.
We explore and define the concept of a `rogue' state based on a state's domestic patterns of behavior. We combine measures of domestic gender equality, ethnic discrimination and state repression to identify characteristics of rogue states. Once we have identified rogue states, we perform logistic regression to predict whether rogue states are more likely to be the aggressors during international disputes — whether they are more likely to use force first during interstate conflict, controlling for other possible causes of state use of force. This research adds to a growing body of scholarship in International Relations regarding the behavior of states involved in conflict, which demonstrates that states with higher levels of inequality, repression and violence exhibit higher levels of violence during international disputes and during international crises. This argument is most fully developed within feminist scholarship; however, research in the field of ethno-apolitical conflict has also highlighted the negative impact of domestic discrimination and violence on state behavior at the international level.
What explains the dynamic movement in the gender gap in public opinion toward government activism over the past 30 years?
The thermostatic model of politics suggests that aggregate public opinion adjusts to liberal changes in public policy by preferring
less government and to conservative changes in policy by preferring more government. Given the cross-sectional differences
in policy preferences between men and women, we argue that the dynamic movement in the gender gap in policy preferences for
more or less government spending is a function of asymmetrical responses by men and women to changes in public policy. We
find that both men and women respond to changes in public policy by shifting their policy preferences in the same direction.
But men appear more responsive to policy changes than do women. It is this asymmetrical response to changes in public policy
that is responsible for the dynamics of the gender gap in policy preferences across time. Our results show that the gap increases
when policy moves in a liberal direction, as men move in a conservative direction at a faster rate than women. In contrast,
when policy moves to the right, the opinions of both men and women will respond by moving to the left, but the greater responsiveness
among men will decrease the gap, bringing male preferences closer to the preferences of women.
I examine the role of domestic gender equality in predicting whether or not a state is more aggressive in international disputes. This research adds to a growing body of feminist research in international relations, which demonstrates that states with higher levels of gender equality exhibit lower levels of violence during international disputes and during international crises. Many scholars have argued that a domestic environment of inequality and violence results in a greater likelihood of state use of violence internationally. This argument is most fully developed within feminist literature; however, research in the field of ethno-nationalism has also highlighted the negative impact of domestic discrimination and violence on state behavior at the international level. Using the MID data set and new data on first use of force, I test, using logistic regression, whether states with higher levels of gender equality are less likely to be aggressive when involved in international disputes, controlling for other possible causes of state use of force. Beyond this project's contribution to the conflict literature, this research expands feminist theory by further incorporating it into traditional international relations theory to deepen our understanding of the impact of domestic gender equality on state behavior internationally.
Describes how changes in research foci and methodology has altered our understanding of the relations between poor people and their environment in recent years. He suggests that fertility and environmental degradation can reinforce each other in an escalating spiral. Parental demand for children rather than an unmet need for contraceptives, it is argued, explains reproductive behaviour in high-fertility countries. Policy changes to make children "expensive', and their labour less vital for family survival, are needed. -M.Amos
The post-Cold War surge in so-called tribal conflict is shown here to be the continuation of a trend that began in the 1960s. The main issue of the 50 most serious current ethnopolitical conflicts is contention for state power among communal groups in the immediate aftermath of state formation, revolution, and efforts to democratize autocratic regimes. Communal conflicts across fault lines between civilizations and religious traditions are more intense than others but have not increased in relative frequency or severity since the end of the Cold War. Nor is there a strong global force leading toward the further fragmentation of the state system. The most protracted and deadly ethnopolitical conflicts are likely to occur in poor, weak, heterogenous states like those of Africa. Six general international strategies to restrain emerging ethnopolitical conflicts are identified. -from Author
Propositions about determinants of political violence at the cross-national level are derived from rational action theory and tested across the entire population of independent states in the mid-1970s. The data support two rational action hypotheses: Rates of domestic political violence are higher at intermediate levels of both regime repressiveness and negative sanctions than at either low or high levels of these indicators of institutionalized and behavioral coercion. Two hypotheses that can be interpreted within either a rational action or a deprivation framework also are supported: High rates of economic growth reduce the incidence of political violence, and potential separatism increases the incidence of violence. A deprivation hypothesis that high life expectancy reduces the incidence of political violence is not supported. Overall, this set of findings favors a rational action rather than a deprivation approach to explaining why nations differ in rates of political violence.
Recent events around the world have convinced political scientists and policymakers that nationalist conflicts are an important feature of the post-Cold War world. Conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, and Kurdistan have all been prominent in headlines in recent years; but such conflicts are not just a post-Cold War phenomenon, and many have been going on for decades. This article outlines the scope of this phenomenon - violent conflicts between nationalist groups within states - in the post-war period. It presents a dataset of violent nationalist conflicts within states from 1945 to 1996, measuring cases in terms of initiation, duration, and intensity of conflict, and comparing this effort to other intrastate conflict data collections. The characteristics of these conflicts before and after the Cold War are examined, to test the popular notion that the end of the Cold War has 'unleashed' a new era of nationalist strife. This survey concludes that these conflicts are not simply a post-Cold War phenom- enon, nor has the end of the Cold War brought an unprecedented wave of new nationalist conflicts to the world. On the contrary, many such conflicts do get resolved, and more have been resolved in the past ten years - particularly by peaceful methods - than in any comparable period in recent history.
The literature about 24 peaceful peoples was examined to determine if their ways of conflict resolution differ from the approaches to conflict found in other, more violent, societies. While the strategies for managing conflicts employed by these peoples are comparable to those used in many other small-scale societies, their world-views of peacefulness and the structures they use to reinforce those world-views do distinguish them from other societies. Several common notions about conflict and conflict resolution that are asserted by Western scholars can be questioned in light of the success of these societies in peacefully resolving conflicts: namely, that violent conflict is inevitable in all societies; that punishment and armed force prevent internal and external violence; that political structures are necessary to prevent conflicts; and that conflict should be viewed as positive and necessary. The contrary evidence is that over half of the peaceful societies have no recorded violence; they rarely punish other adults (except for the threat of ostracism); they handle conflicts with outside societies in the same peaceful ways that they approach internal conflicts; they do not look to outside governments when they have internal disputes; and they have a highly negative view of conflict.
Women work for peace, and men wage war—cooperative women, conflictual men. These images pervade conventional wisdom about the efficacy of women in leadership roles and decision-making environments, but imagery is not always grounded in reality. Feminist international relations literature is examined to understand how domestic gender equality may help predict a state's international crisis behavior. The authors use the record of female leaders as primary decision makers during international crises and then test the relationship between domestic gender equality and a state's use of violence internationally. The International Crisis Behavior (ICB) data set and multinomial logistic regression are used to test the level of violence exhibited during international crises by states with varying levels of domestic gender equality. Results show that the severity of violence in crisis decreases as domestic gender equality increases.