Although the sheer number of women participating in combat units and armed battle all over the world has been steadily increasing since World War II, academic research has been hesitant to investigate the manifold aspects of this phenomenon until recently. But a development of this dimension needs much more thorough research by cultural and area studies than has been carried out to date.
Our aim is to come up with an innovative and interdisciplinary volume on women in combat units, or otherwise actively engaged in armed battle, in several world regions, organizations, and time periods. The perspective of the women themselves is of particular importance to us.
While the historic perspective informs the work of the editors, a variety of disciplinary perspectives such as anthropology and feminist studies will be included in this publication. We are seeking further authors working on any world regions and historical periods or specific organizations. We are specifically interested in papers on (East-)Africa or Algeria, on specific organizations and activities, e.g. anti-nazi, (pro-communist) revolutionary, women in the IRA or RAF (Red Army Faction), and on women in combat units of legally recognized organizations such as NATO or national defense forces.
Due to the pandemic situation and our experience with the preparation of an edited volume, we have opted for a different path that goes beyond a basic call for papers. We are going to have a small number of online-meetings during the coming months, together with the editors, the authors, and some interested colleagues. Each meeting will focus on a particular question or theoretical approach relevant to our articles. By means of these meetings, we hope to create an inner cohesion of the volume, a connectedness of the articles without limiting the individual approach of each author.
That means also that we expect the authors to join our meetings (which will be neither too numerous nor too long and arranged in accordance with the calendars of the participants). This mutual exchange will allow all participants to introduce their own perspectives into the overall project and to become part of an extremely committed and supportive network.
Publication language is English.
Please send your clear and concise abstract, together with a short CV, no later than March 25, 2021.
We will ask for the first drafts at the end of July 2021. We want to publish a volume with fresh perspectives on a timely topic. However, we don’t want to lose an intriguing paper because of this ambitious workflow. So, the deadline for each paper is also a matter of mutual arrangement.
Béatrice Hendrich, Orientalisches Seminar, Universität zu Köln
https://orient.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/personen/professorinnen/jun-prof-dr-beatrice-hendrich
Edited Volume on Female Fighters in diverse world regions and organizations.
In: H-Soz-Kult, 12.03.2021, <www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-96397>.