Archive | 2019
A Gender-Balanced Approach to Transforming Cultures of Militarism in Northern Ireland
Abstract
This chapter argues that three distinct ‘cultures of militarism’ continue to contribute to division and conflict in Northern Ireland: republican, loyalist, and British Armed Forces cultures of militarism. The chapter builds on scholarly feminist critiques, and analysis of interviews with Veterans for Peace (VFP) activists, to argue for the analytical value of the concept of cultures of militarism in post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland. A cultures of militarism lens makes us more alert to the violence and military values embedded in Northern Ireland’s ethno-national identities. It allows us to see how the violence and militarism of the past continues to be reproduced through discourses, images, rituals, and symbols, as well as through institutions and structures. Ultimately, the chapter argues that for the transformation of cultures of militarism to take place, the inclusion of women’s perspectives also must be accompanied by changes in power relationships between women and men.