Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq: A Feminist Reformulation of Just War Theory

by Laura Sjoberg

Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq offers a feminist critique and reconstruction of just war theory. It points out gender biases in the just war tradition and suggests alternative jus ad bellum and jus in bello standards that emphasize women, political marginality, and empathy. Laura Sjoberg applies this feminist just war theory to analyze the wars in Iraq since the end of the Cold War―the First Gulf War, the war of sanctions, and the Second Gulf War. By examining international political discourse from and about Iraq, it shows where war generally and just war specifically are gendered. Through the stories of key just war characters like Jessica Lynch, this book reveals where women are omitted and subordinated in global politics. Sjoberg suggests that dialogue and empathy replace righteousness in just war thinking for the good of human safety everywhere and concludes with alternative visions of Gulf War policies, inspired by feminist just war theory.

278 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2006

About the author

Laura Sjoberg is Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Her first book Gender, Justice and the Wars in Iraq was published in 2006. She has published articles on just war theory in the International Journal of Feminist Politics, International Politics and International Studies Quarterly. Her research focuses on gender, just war theory, international security and international ethics.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twas fine. I think honestly its arguments could do with an update but had some nuggets that were helpful for thesis.
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MA Thesis reading

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this primarily for its response to Jean Elshtain's Just War on Terror. That response is rather buried in a larger framing of just war theory, the wars in Iraq, feminist IR... which I probably would have appreciated more if I hadn't already done a bit of research on those topics. Although I agreed with most of Sjoberg's criticisms of Elshtain's argument, she didn't really convince me like Elshtain (almost) did. I did appreciate that Sjoberg framed Elsthain's response to 9/11 in terms of her (Elshtain's) previous work, and therefore, the surprise her position garnered amongst the feminist/liberal academic community.

The hypothetical dialogue between the traditional policy makers and a feminist empathetic voice (pgs. 216-221) is one of the most helpful parts of this book. Not only is it funny, it also presents Sjoberg's argument better than in pretty much any other part of the work.