Gender, Human Security and the United Nations: Security Language as a Political Framework for Women

This book examines the relationship between women, gender and the international security agenda, exploring the meaning of security in terms of discourse and practice, as well as the larger goals and strategies of the global women\u27s movement. Today, many complex global problems are being located within the security logic. From the environment to HIV/AIDS, state and non-state actors have made a practice out of securitizing issues that are not conventionally seen as such. As most prominently demonstrated by the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2001), activists for women\u27s rights have increasingly framed women\u27s rights and gender inequality as security issues in an attempt to gain access to the international security agenda, particularly in the context of the United Nations. This book explores the nature and implications of the use of security language as a political framework for women, tracing and analyzing the organizational dynamics of women\u27s activism in the United Nations system and how women have come to embrace and been impacted by the security framework, globally and locally. The book argues that, from a feminist and human security perspective, efforts to engender the security discourse have had both a broadening and limiting effect, highlighting reasons to be skeptical of securitization as an inherently beneficial strategy. Four case studies are used to develop the core themes: The campaign to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 The strategies utilized by those advocating women\u27s issues in the security arena compared to those advocating for children The organizational development of the UN Development Fund for Women and how it has come to securitize women The activity of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and its challenges in gendering its security approach. The work will be of interest to students of critical security, gender studies, international organizations and international relations in general