Gender And International Relations (U04289)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : SPS-3-GIR

Throughout the world, men predominate in government and foreign policy elites, international security apparatuses and the conduct of war. In the global economy, despite inroads from women, a relatively rigid gender division of labour continues, between paid and unpaid work, according to economic sectors, and along hierarchies. This is not mere chance or a matter of historical legacy. This course demonstrates that gender is a constitutive force enabling security practices, global capitalism, and power politics. In other words, gender makes possible international politics and economics in their current form. Despite the salience of gender in international politics and economics, studies of gender relations have entered the field of International Relations relatively recently. Feminist approaches offer new views of a field previously defined as devoid of gender politics. This course introduces feminist approaches and considers the role gender plays in war, militarization, conflict prevention and resolution, and new security and development challenges. It will complement other Honours options available, including Contemporary Feminist Thought, Approaches to Politics and IR, International Political Economy, International Security, Theories of IR and War and Justice. In particular, it will enable students to explore in more detail a critical approach to International Relations.

The course will be offered to International Relations students and Politics students, in the first instance, with priority given to the former. Students from across the school will be eligible to take up any outstanding places on the course. Places are limited to 45. Four places have been set aside for students on the Social Anthropology and Development degree.

Entry Requirements

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Special Arrangements for Entry: A quota of 45 students, with preference given in the following order:

(1) International Relations Single Honours 4th year;
(2) Politics Single Honours 4th year;
(3) Politics Joint Honours 4th year;
(4) International Relations Single Honours 3rd year;
(5) Politics Single Honours 3rd year;
(6) Politics Joint Honours 3rd year;
(7) Other SSPS students;
(8) Non-SSPS students

Please note: because of the high numbers of students enrolled, this course will almost certainly not be able to admit students from outside the College of Humanities and Social Science.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Politics and International Relations, (School of Social and Political Science, Schedule J)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
24/09/2008	10:00	10:50	Room G.01, Chrystal Macmillan Building	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Wednesday	10:00	10:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should have acquired:
Knowledge of feminist critiques of the mainstream discipline of international relations, ranging from the practical (issues such as war, security, the international economy, human rights, development, peacekeeping and conflict resolution), to the theoretical (such as whether international relations theories are gendered);
Understanding of the ways in which mainstream approaches to International Relations affects explanations and understandings of and prescriptions for conduct in global affairs.
An awareness of the contribution feminist approaches can make to our understanding of issues in world politics
Development in their understanding of critical perspectives towards IR, and of the inter-relationship between feminist and mainstream approaches to IR.
An enhanced understanding of gender as a category of analysis in relation to issues in world politics.