Feminist Identity Development and Activism in Revolutionary Movements Unusual Suspects

by O'Keefe, Theresa

• ISBN13: 9780230236127
• ISBN10: 023023612X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-10-31
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book examines the development of feminist identities among women active in revolutionary movements and how this identity simultaneously contributes to and conflicts with the struggle for women's emancipation. It is based on groundbreaking interviews with women who were active in the contemporary Irish republican movement and activists in the broader women's movement.

The book explores how and why women became active in the armed Irish republican movement including an intricate examination of their roles within the IRA. It documents how the gendered experiences of the conflict and of participation in republicanism fostered feminism in many women and how this newfound republican feminism was positioned relative to the broader women's movement in the Northern Ireland. This comparison raises significant questions regarding the limitations of autonomous women's organising and its ability to be inclusive.

 

Author Biography

Theresa O'Keefe is Assistant Lecturer in sociology at the National University of Ireland, Ireland.

Table of Contents

1. Rethinking Women and Nationalism
2. Women's Troubles: Gender, Violence and the State
3. A Woman's Place as in the Armed Struggle?
4. The Mini-skirt Brigade: Distorting Women's Participation in Armed Conflict
5. The Rousing of Republican Feminism. . .
6. Reformation Versus Revolution? Feminist Genealogies in Conflict