Description
Book SynopsisThe eleven-year civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002was incomprehensibly brutalit is estimated that half of allfemale refugees were raped and many thousands were killed. While the publicity surrounding sexual violence helped tocreate a general picture of women and girls as victims of theconflict, there has been little effort to understand female soldiers'involvement in, and experience of, the conflict. FemaleSoldiers in Sierra Leone draws on interviews with 75 formerfemale soldiers and over 20 local experts, providing a rareperspective on both the civil war and post-conflict developmentefforts in the country. Megan MacKenzie argues thatpost-conflict reconstruction is a highly gendered process,demonstrating that a clear recognition and understandingof the roles and experiences of female soldiers are centralto both understanding the conflict and to crafting effectivepolicy for the future.
Trade ReviewGiving voice to the seldom-heard stories of female soldiers, Megan MacKenzie challenges over-simplified narratives about male warriors and female victims. This moving and insightful analysis of & post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone is a convincing reminder of the perils of ignoring gender. -- J. Ann Tickner, co-editor of Feminism and International Relations: Conversations about the Past, Present and Future
MacKenzie is one of the rising international stars of feminist IR war studies and she's clearly one of the best. Her book moves elegantly and respectfully between events she researched in Sierra Leone and her theorizing on conjugal order and gendered insecurity when wars end. Many audiences will want this book, including organizations crafting post-war reconstruction, whose efforts can backfire on women. -- Christine Sylvester, editor of Feminist International Relations
Weaving sophisticated theoretical critique and an amazing account of lived experiences during and after war, this book is a powerful, sophisticated, and beautifully written contribution to debates over how one should study gender and world politics. An inter-disciplinary must-read for all concerned with war and security. -- Lene Hansen, author of Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War
[] MacKenzies contribution provides a well-written and approachable introduction to the complexities of female soldiering in Sierra Leone.Female Soldiers in Sierra Leoneis therefore of particular use to humanitarians, activists, feminist researchers, and anyone interested in conflict and war. * International Feminist Journal of Politics *
Table of Contents1. Introduction: Conjugal Order and Insecurity Post-Conflict2. The History of Sex, Order, and Conflict in Sierra Leone3. Defining Soldiers4. Empowerment Boom or Bust? Assessing Women's Post-Armed Conflict Empowerment Initiatives5. Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women 6. Securitizing Sex? Rethinking Wartime Sexual Violence 7. Loving Your Enemy: Rape, Sex, Childbirth, and Politics Post-Armed Conflict8. Conclusion: Displacing War Mythology and Developmental Logic
