Women and Terrorism: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terror Groups (Comtemporary Terrorism Studies)

175 Pages·2008·0.91 MB·English

by  Gonzalez-Perez

Women and Terrorism
This book examines the relationship between women and terrorist activities
in the post-World War II era. Utilizing comparative research into 26 terror-
ist organizations worldwide, the work identifies a dichotomy whereby
women are significantly more active in domestic terrorist organizations than
in international groups.
Women and Terrorism argues that domestic terrorist organizations employ
revolution, secession, or other means to change internal aspects of the state
and the social and economic structure it maintains. This offers the possibil-
ity of change in women’s societal status; therefore, women are drawn to
domestic terrorist organizations in much higher proportions and choose a
much greater level of activity, entering the ranks of combat, leadership, and
policymaking. By contrast, international terrorist groups oppose outside
forces, such as imperialism, capitalism, Western culture, or other more neb-
ulous concepts. Gonzalez-Perez argues that female lack of participation in
these activities reflects the fact that women will be relegated to the status
quo, regardless of the success or failure of the international terrorist move-
ment.
This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, inter-
national security, gender politics, and international relations in general.
Margaret Gonzalez-Perez is an Associate Professor of Political Science at
Southeastern Louisiana University.
Contemporary terrorism studies
Understanding Terrorist Innovation
Technology, tactics and
global trends
Adam Dolnik
The Strategy of Terrorism
How it works, why it fails
Peter Neumann and M.L.R. Smith
Female Terrorism and Militancy
Agency, utility and organization
Edited by Cindy D. Ness
Women and Terrorism
Female activity in domestic and international terror groups
Margaret Gonzalez-Perez
Women and Terrorism
Female activity in domestic and
international terror groups
Margaret Gonzalez-Perez
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2008 Margaret Gonzalez-Perez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-92655-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-46467-6 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-92655-2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-46467-3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-92655-0 (ebk)
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
List of acronyms x
Introduction 1
1 Domestic and international terrorism 5
International terrorist organizations 6
Domestic terrorist organizations 7
Defining terrorism 8
States, nations, nationalism, and international actors 12
Models of women’s participation in terrorist organizations 14
2 The Americas: new women in a new world 21
The Americas: domestic terrorism 22
The Americas: international terrorism 48
3 Asia: freedom birds and water buffaloes 60
Asia: domestic terrorism 60
Asia: international terrorism 71
4 Africa and the Middle East: behind the veil 79
Africa and the Middle East: domestic terrorism 80
Africa and the Middle East: international terrorism 88
5 Europe: discontent on the continent 102
Europe: domestic terrorism 102
Europe: international terrorism 111
vi Contents
6 Conclusion 122
Future research 129
Normative implications and policy suggestions 130
References 132
Index 156
Preface
The purpose of this book is to offer a new perspective on women and terror-
ism. Traditionally, most scholarly work on this topic has focused on the role
of women as victims or hailed them as “mothers of revolution” who have
sacrificed their sons to terrorist causes, with little reference to their own par-
ticipation. In recent years, some scholars have conducted interviews with
female terrorists from specific groups, yielding a wealth of primary source
material. Yet until now, no single volume has attempted to gather the wide
variety of information available and provide a comprehensive, comparative
examination of women’s participation in terrorism. This book seeks to fill
that niche.
Women and Terrorism: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terrorist
Groups offers a basic theoretical model that helps explain the varying levels
of female participation in terrorist organizations. Previous works have cited
religion, paternalism, socialism, or other phenomena as factors in women’s
terrorist activity, or the lack thereof. This model provides a new perspective
by building upon a fundamental distinction among terrorist groups and
comparing the levels of female participation in both domestic and inter-
national terrorist organizations.
An examination of post-World War II terrorist organizations throughout
the world demonstrates that women in domestic terrorist organizations
choose a much higher level of activity, rising above simple support services
and entering the ranks of combat, leadership, and policymaking. They do so
because domestic terrorists oppose their own state and the forces within it
that they deem to be oppressive. Women join domestic terrorist organi-
zations because they too seek to overthrow the agents of the society that they
believe restrict their influence and limit their potential.
Conversely, by definition, international terrorist groups oppose outside
forces, such as imperialism, capitalism, Western culture, or other more neb-
ulous concepts. Success for international terrorists means the ouster of exter-
nal influences, not necessarily any change in the domestic society or its
treatment of women. Therefore, women have little to gain from actively par-
ticipating in international terrorist groups. Regardless of the outcome, the
women will still be relegated to their status quo.
viii Preface
Women and Terrorism: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terrorist
Groups is an effort to present women and terrorism from a new angle and
possibly provoke some thought and consideration of how government pol-
icies could be used to improve the circumstances of women, particularly in
developing nations, and thereby reduce the specter of terrorism.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Laverne Simoneaux of Sims
Memorial Library’s Reference Department who provided unfailing assistance
in my research endeavors for this book. I would also like to thank Barbara
Tanner Brooks and Erin Ballam of the Sims Memorial Library for their tire-
less efforts as well as the Orr Memorial Research Fund for its generosity.
Finally, my thanks go to my husband, Lennie F. Perez, for his enduring
patience through interminable discussions of all things related to women
terrorists.