Towards a feminist geopolitics

TLDR

Feminist geography and political geography have rarely intersected, leaving feminist geopolitics underdeveloped; it is not an alternative theory but an approach to global issues that foregrounds feminist politics and addresses unequal, often violent relationships. The paper seeks to establish a theoretical and practical framework for feminist geopolitics, interrogating human security against state security to promote a more accountable, embodied, and responsive geopolitical approach. Drawing on critical geopolitics, feminist IR, and transnational feminist studies, the author develops a framework that examines politics beyond the nation-state, challenges the public/private divide globally, and analyzes mobility politics of perpetrators of crimes against humanity. The result is that feminist geopolitics constitutes a critical approach and a contingent set of political practices functioning at scales finer and coarser than the nation-state.

Abstract

The intersections and conversations between feminist geography and political geography have been surprisingly few. The notion of a feminist geopolitics remains undeveloped in geography. This paper aims to create a theoretical and practical space in which to articulate a feminist geopolitics. Feminist geopolitics is not an alternative theory of geopolitics, nor the ushering in of a new spatial order, but is an approach to global issues with feminist politics in mind. ‘Feminist’ in this context refers to analyses and political interventions that address the unequal and often violent relationships among people based on real or perceived differences. Building upon the literature from critical geopolitics, feminist international relations, and transnational feminist studies, I develop a framework for feminist political engagement. The paper interrogates concepts of human security and juxtaposes them with state security, arguing for a more accountable, embodied, and responsive notion of geopolitics. A feminist geopolitics is sought by examining politics at scales other than that of the nation‐state; by challenging the public/private divide at a global scale; and by analyzing the politics of mobility for perpetrators of crimes against humanity. As such, feminist geopolitics is a critical approach and a contingent set of political practices operating at scales finer and coarser than the nation‐state.