1.
Henshaw, Alexis
De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016) Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 2, pp. 269-286, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016)},
author = {Alexis Henshaw},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {2},
pages = {269-286},
abstract = {Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.
2023
Henshaw, Alexis
De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016) Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 2, pp. 269-286, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, colombia, contemporary, gender, latin america, military, war
@article{nokey,
title = {De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016)},
author = {Alexis Henshaw},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {2},
pages = {269-286},
abstract = {Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.},
keywords = {20th century, colombia, contemporary, gender, latin america, military, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.