Research Request

Hello All,

I am starting this discussion in the hopes that I can get some feedback and/or ideas for a possible working group or at least research paper.

I am in the Army Reserves holding the Civil Affairs mos; I also work as a civilian contractor. A portion of my work is research related as I work for the military, the Marines to be exact. OK that's my history.

Now for the question. I am looking to establish a link between coin, women's culture, terrorism and Irregular Warfare. I know it is broad, that is intentional.I will take the suggestions and narrow down a topic. My goal is to establish a link between one or all three, seperately, and Irregular Warfare.

I want to get your thoughts on what would be a viable research topic, something of use to the soldier on the ground and if you can offer a topic that wasn't listed pls feel free. I have gotten feed-back from the Marines as well. I'd use my own experience in Iraq and the 'Stan but it would be extremely biased. That being said any suggestions you offer would be of great use to me.

Thanks

One thing I've always wondered is how to push IO to the female component of the Iraqi family unit, sort of like a "momma don't let your babies grow up to be insurgents."

Does the matriarchal element of Iraqi sociey lend itself to penetration by IO. Can it be shaped? Is the role of the mother strong enough to exert matriarchal influence, or is the culture totally patriarchal when it comes to blood feuds and the restoration of honor?

Hi Rena, this is a little off target but I am on a Domestic Violence Task force in Alabama and one of the topics that always comes up is how women are treated in countries that engage in or support terrorism. They are often very brutal to their women. You probably have some first hand experience with that from your tours over there. Don not know if that helps any, but it is a thought.

How about the cultivation of women to be terrorists such as the suicide bombers for Hamas or the Tamil Tigers or the black widows in Chechnya? I have seen some pretty disturbing videos of their use and there already exists some literature in the field. Or their use in support roles such as being weapon mules in hopes they will not be as closely searched going through checkpoints. I know gang bangers do it all the time here and also have them hold their dope. Just ideas....

Rena, my view on this topic is maybe too simple (which makes it universal), but it is drawn form very good book by James March "Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen". The main point is that people never want negative backfeed to their behaviour. People are social animals, which means that they live in social networks that share common values. Behind the values there is always some big story, or narrative. If there are generated ideas of opposition to foreign power and there is organisation to express the opposition, then there must be plan how to do it. Clever people find appropriate roles for both men and women. What kind of roles both sexes recieve depends on culturel backround or on the other hand very pragmatic reasons.

Here is good article by Gordon McCormick "Terrorist decision making."

http://www.webfilehost.com/?mode=viewupload&id=9507517

Hi Rena,

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Originally Posted by Rena

I am starting this discussion in the hopes that I can get some feedback and/or ideas for a possible working group or at least research paper.

Now for the question. I am looking to establish a link between coin, women's culture, terrorism and Irregular Warfare. I know it is broad, that is intentional.I will take the suggestions and narrow down a topic. My goal is to establish a link between one or all three, seperately, and Irregular Warfare.

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I am always a little wary when I see a phrase like "women's culture" :wry:. In all honesty, I think you would be better off the list either a specific culture, say "Afghan women" (which is still too broad), or "Hamas women". On of the problems the Feminist movement ran into about 15-20 years ago was their use of monolithic constructions of women's culture - not surprising given the Marxist models that ae at the base of most feminist theorizing.

On interesting example of the type of link I think you are trying to get at comes from the communist insurgency in Northern Sudan from the 1980's. In much of Northern Sudan, FGM is a fairly well established practice, but the insurgents, who were trying to recruit women, got around that practice by teaching young girls to kill. Anyone who had at least one kill or fire-fight was considered to have met all the cultural requirements "usuall" associated as the product of the FGM rituals. BTW, I had that as a story from an Anthropologist in the field - I don't think he ever published it, so I can't give you back up references:o.

While you are trying to refine your specific topic, you might want might want to try and build a rough theoretical model a a Merton's mid-range theory. Something along the lines of "within culture X, these actions/roles tend to be male and these tend to be female; they are culturally justified by institutions Y,Z and A. Insurgencies need actions B, C, D (etc) to succeed and, of these actions, D is "usually" female. How, then, does an insurgency in Culture X mobilize women?"

That's a really bare bones approach, but it might help you in thinking about specifics and in what sorts of data you will need. Since you also note that

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Originally Posted by Rena

I want to get your thoughts on what would be a viable research topic, something of use to the soldier on the ground and if you can offer a topic that wasn't listed pls feel free.

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I think this might be a good place to start. At least, this way, you would be able to tailor specifics for different cultural settings.

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Originally Posted by Rena

I have gotten feed-back from the Marines as well. I'd use my own experience in Iraq and the 'Stan but it would be extremely biased. That being said any suggestions you offer would be of great use to me.

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Well, as an Anthropologist, I would have t say that first hand experiences can be an excellent source of data - better than any "theory" produced by someone in an Ivory Tower :D. Is t going to be biased? Sure, of course it is. Were you labouring under the misapprehension that some white dude sitting in his office on the 22nd floor of a university tower will have a better understanding of women in an insurgency half the world away? (Oh, wait a second - MY office is on the 22nd floor!!!:eek:).

Marc

JCurtis,

That's a very good question. I believe that with all of the information that I have been able to gather from the responses that will make an excellent research paper. Thank you for your imput.

No that's not off topic at all. Domestic violence does have an impact on women's culture. Thank you!!

This is great stuff and I will start my research today on the groups referenced. This is excellent thank you.

I think you are dead on when you speak about the narrative of a culture. I definitely am going to have to pull that thread when I start researching. I will also throw some questions at you if you don't mind.

Hi Rena,

This may be a useful article for you. You may need to go through a library with a subscription to get the article.

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Gender, Power, and the Performance of Justice: Muslim Women's Responses to Domestic Violence in Kazakhstan
Edward Snajdr
American Ethnologist, Vol. 32, No. 2. (May, 2005), pp. 294-311.

Abstract
The grassroots assistance that Muslim women activists provide to victims of domestic abuse in Kazakhstan differs significantly from approaches commonly used by service providers in the United States. Yet the activists' informal remedies, which are shaped by discourses of religion and ethnicity and which have attracted women who seek something other than safety or formal justice, are implicitly regulated by cultural politics. By examining particular cases, I show how activists prescribe gender ideologies that guide victims' choices while supporting their own group's broader political goals. These findings may help in understanding the dynamics of women's political agency outside the state.

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Marc

Wow, thank you very much for the suggestions and the information, great stuff!!! I will do as you advised as far as the model is concerned and I happen to know an anthroplogist, a friend of a friend of a friend, who may give me a push in the right direction as well. ..Oh thank you for this abstract!!! I am going to the library at lunchtime to see what I can find.

Rena,

There are some interesting (poor choice of words but others get too emotional) issues on women with regards to the genocide and Rwanda.

A. Deliberate targeting of women for organized rape; see Linda Melvern's work--1st woman ever convicted for crimes against humanity was the former Minister of Families (or something like that) a woman who led some of the rape gangs; some 250,000 RECORDED/WITNESSED/REPORTED rapes in 100 days

B. Post genocide role of women in Rwanda is dramatically different than pre-war roles Causes:
1. Elimination of males from target groups
2. Rwandan Patriotic Front policies before, during, and after the war have steadily empowered women--the Mayor of Kigali was MAJ Rose who was an RPA combatant and commissar (again lack of a better word)

Look at PBS Frontline, HRW, and USIP for sources

Best

Tom

This was back in 2004.

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'Jihad' magazine for women on web
By Sebastian Usher
BBC World Media correspondent


Radical Islamists have launched a new magazine publication on the internet especially for women.
The aim of the magazine is to show women how to reconcile the apparent contradiction of fighting jihad while maintaining family life.

The magazine is called Al-Khansa, after a famous Arab woman poet in the early days of Islam, who wrote eulogies to male relatives who had died in battle.

It appears to be the first "jihadist" publication aimed exclusively at women.

The magazine says it is published by an organisation called "The Women's Media Bureau in the Arabian Peninsula".

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BBC World
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3594982.stm

Tom,

Great info another angle I can explore! Much thanks!!!

Thank you SGM Grumpy
This is good stuff!!!

Hello Rena,
Here's a very interesting article regarding a Latvian female officer who recently returned from Mazare-Sharif, Afghanistan.

http://www.balticguide.ee/index.php/a3327

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And finally, the obvious question: How has your experience in the army been affected by the fact that you are a woman?
Yes this is a usual question! Personally, it’s no problem for me to be a female and a soldier, and at work I am treated as just an officer. Soldiers have no problems taking orders from me. There is not so much negative attitude, but there is high competition for me to be in my best physical condition. I also think that being a woman helps with my communication and helps me to be more diplomatic. However, in Afghanistan, some locals can be defensive against NATO – especially against a female officer.

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Regards, Stan

Thank you I did find that article interesting. It raises more questions for me in regards to other militaries and their use of female soldiers

Hi Rena,

Here's another one that just came out. It's part of a special issue dealing with "Doing Case Study Research in Organizations".

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Kisfalvi, Veronika 2006
Subjectivity and Emotions as Sources of Insight in an Ethnographic Case Study: A Tale of the Field, M@n@gement, 9: 3, 109-127.
This article argues that case studies conducted within an ethnographic framework always contain an element of subjectivity and emotionality given the close relationships that researchers establish with participants in the field, and that while these elements can be a source of bias, they can also be transformed into valuable sources of insight as long as they are acknowledged and examined. Through the example of a lived field experience, this paper discusses how the subjective and emotional quality of the relationship established between researcher and participant, once examined, brought a deeper level of understanding and a greater degree of objectivity to findings obtained during an ethnographic case study carried out in an entrepreneurial firm. The methodological implications of the roles played by subjectivity and emotions in this type of research are also discussed.

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Marc

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While many women and girls can arguably be described primarily as victims, their willingness to participate in atrocities, even if their primary motivation for joining the fighting was to feed and protect their families, should not be glossed over.21 One group of female combatants, the Women’s Artillery Commandos (WAC), comprised young women who fought alongside the LURD. A Liberian health minister was quoted as saying that female combatants were preferred because, “they don’t get drunk
and they take their mission very seriously.”

While many women ex-combatants reported surviving sexual violence at the hands of both the LURD and forces associated with Charles Taylor’s regime prior to joining the WAC, they were, in turn, capable of facilitating sexual violence against women. One woman interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that she and other female soldiers purposefully captured female prisoners in order to provide women for male soldiers to have sexual relations with, whether through choice or by force. The girl soldiers described how they sought out female prisoners in order to provide a different target for possible rape and other sexual assaults from their male companions.

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Gender and Disarmament
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/issues/...ingitright.pdf

I am reading this now. This is great thank you!!

SGM Grumpy this is compelling stuff. Makes a strong arguement for my paper. In comparison are women "preferred" and capable of committing these atrocities?

Hi Rena!

I think that Kipling puts it much better than I ever could, white 19th century chauvinist or no:


The Female of the Species

WHEN the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other's tale—
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations—worm and savage otherwise,—
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise.
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger—Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue—to the scandal of The Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity—must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions—not in these her honour dwells—
She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions—in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!—
He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges—even so the she-bear fights,
Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons—even so the cobra bites,
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
And the victim writhes in anguish—like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of Abstract Justice—which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern—shall enthral but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.

Here is 1 paper called "Woman, Violence, Nation: Representations of Female Insurgency in Fiction and Public Discourse in the 1970s and 1980s"

http://www.webfilehost.com/?mode=viewupload&id=3673686

Remember Kipling's poem warning British soldiers:

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When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier OF the Queen!

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Tom

Kipling had it right..a wonder way to end my paper....

Rena,

Now for the question. I am looking to establish a link between coin, women's culture, terrorism and Irregular Warfare.

I know you’re still trying to refine what you met by women’s culture, but I think this is a fascinating topic with numerous potential angles that can be explored.

1.Blinded by Chivalry: Many in the West see women as non players in war, especially those stuck in the mindset that war is to be fought by Armies against Armies. Although even the staunchest chauvinist knows this isn’t how the real world works, they are somewhat blind to the fact that women are playing key roles, which in effect gives them the ability to be the invisible warrior. One example that applies to irregular warfare is using women to case a target for a terrorist attack. Take a subway system somewhere in the West. A young woman chatting on her cell phone (which also doubles as a camera) hanging out in a subway station taking pictures and making notes on security procedures is unlikely to trigger the suspicion of your average white male security officer. Take a young Middle Eastern male and put him in the subway he’ll become a movie star that no one can take their eyes off of. Insurgencies and terrorist groups worldwide have used women and children in a variety of roles for the very fact that are frequently invisible to our perception as a threat.

2. The Voice: In many societies women do not have a public voice, but they still have a voice at home. We need to identify psychological operations messages directed at women in specified societies to weaken support for insurgents and terrorists. What we should attempt to change the perception of terrorist as a hero to one who is undermining his role in supporting his family and society as a whole. This won’t have an effect overnight, but over time it will create doubt and weaken support for certain behaviors. What we have right now are wives and mothers proudly sending their husbands and sons out to die.

3. Ground Truth: Let’s face it, men are egotists. When we go to a village or neighborhood to assess what is needed we generally talk to the men, but if you want ground truth on what is really lacking when it comes to sustaining a household you need to talk to the women.

Other ideals come to mind, but some are too dark to post here. Good luck. Bill

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Originally Posted by Bill Moore

Ground Truth: Let’s face it, men are egotists. When we go to a village or neighborhood to assess what is needed we generally talk to the men, but if you want ground truth on what is really lacking when it comes to sustaining a household you need to talk to the women.

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During OPC II, we would drive or helo in to remote villages as part of the ongoing assessment of the resettlement effort. The MCC command team would go in to be feted by the Mukhtar and the village elders and be told the status of problems/issues in the village. I would go around the village, with a pack of kids as my escort, and talk to the more ordinary folk, including the women. Needless to say, when we compared notes when putting together the final assessment, there were significant differences. The vast majority of the time, the command team was fed a complete line of BS, illustrated only by limited views that fed perceptions of false truth. On the other hand, the villagers would usually take me and physically show me the details of the issue that was top of their priority list.

This way of doing business worked out for us - the command team's visits with the local big shots stroked their egos and developed positive personal relations with the tribes, which ultimately allowed us to move anywhere in the region despite an ongoing civil war. The junior guy going out and meeting the poor folk was still an American willing to listen and be shown the troubling details of their lives and developed positive relations at the lowest and most personal levels - as well as providing detailed information on true conditions of the villages to higher.

This way of doing business worked out for us - the command team's visits with the local big shots stroked their egos and developed positive personal relations with the tribes, which ultimately allowed us to move anywhere in the region despite an ongoing civil war. The junior guy going out and meeting the poor folk was still an American willing to listen and be shown the troubling details of their lives and developed positive relations at the lowest and most personal levels - as well as providing detailed information on true conditions of the villages to higher.

Jedburgh,

I experienced the same thing as a Civil Affairs NCO in Iraq and the 'Stan. When we went out into the community it had more of an affect. Just having chai with a Sheik is not as beneficial as going out amongst the people and actually interacting with them. It was much more of a force multiplier because as people saw us and interacted with us, they saw us chatting with their children, their elders, their shop-keepers, neighbors and friends. We became much more human in their eyes not just that American soldier, we became Rena' or Tom, or whoever. And when something was going to happen they came to warn us because we were a part of their community. Not just some bigshot who came in to have chia, chat and leave.