HUMAN (IN)SECURITY, WARFARE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: A FEMINIST RESEARCH APPROACH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/Keywords:
human security, international relations, international security, warfare, critical theories, feminist theoriesAbstract
The article examines how feminist research approach as a part of critical theories of international relations and international security may contribute to broadening and deepening knowledge of the disregarded and/or unrecognised aspects of phenomenology of human (in)security in the context of warfare. The author identifies the node points in which the basic tenets of the feminist research approach intersect with the need for a valid description and explanation of the remaining “blind spots” in human (in)security as viewed from the perspective of the reality of international politics, and in doing so to expand the narrow view of the positivist IR mainstream. The analysis of epistemological pros of the feminist approach has been done with a view to: the interactions between the relations of domination and the production of knowledge about human (in)security; the impact of power hierarchies and sovereignty on human insecurity; the complex nature of atypical violent practices; and ethics of care. The author concludes that the feminist research approach has an epistemological potential to underscore aspects of warfare neglected in the theoretical mainstream IR literature, and especially the aspects that indicate the diverse and specific nature of war-related sources of human insecurity. The feminist approach may add a pebble to the mosaic of knowledge that enables a complete understanding of the everyday experiences of people trapped in the whirlpool of war events, contrary to their will and deliberation.
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