Introduction: Feminism embraces, if not peace, certainly
alternative ways of thinking about resolving conflict, see writings on the
Ethics of Care by Nell Nodding and In a Different Voice by Carol Gilligan. Nowhere does this become more difficult than among feminist women
who themselves are engulfed within a
war. Not able to theorize in the
relative sanctuary of a peacetime
society, women trying to practice feminist ideals in the immediate context of
overt male violence have risen to the challenge. They provide lessons for how
we might navigate the gulf between women who are Christians and Muslims, Jews
and Palestinians, American and Afghani, the religious and the atheist.
Go to the following web site and read the article by Lepa
Mladjenovic (February 2000) Women in War: http://k.mihalec.tripod.com/wiw.htm
Assignment:* Briefly address the following contradictions on
how to respond to violence and war
raised by feminists in the reading.
Be sure to conclude each answer with your own response to the dilemma.
A. Short essay
1. To shoot or not?
2. What is the line between national
feelings and nationalism?
3. Collective guilt – individual
responsibility?
4. How do we relate to women in
depriviledged positions?
B. Women who survived the Balkan wars of the late 80’s and
90’s wrote this article. What lessons
if any can you extrapolate that would help us navigate the recent violence
resulting from 9-11?
Essay questions can be divided up between groups or
individuals. The class can then
reconvene to present their answers. It
is usually good to have two or more students or groups taking the same question
to provide a richer and more diverse discussion.
