BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

BREAKING GENDERED CONSTRUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: SECURING THE UNSECURED

Author: Mohammad Towheedul Islam

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2008v29n2a5

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to explore the discourse of international security largely defined in terms of political realism and problematise itfrom a feminist perspective. In this pursuit, it has explored and examined constructions of the key concepts and institutions related to the contemporary discourse of international security such as state, national, nationalism, citizenship, military, and war. A gender-sensitive reading of these concepts and institutions reveals that the constructions of these concepts and institutions have been detrimental to women’s security because they are based on masculine ethos. In fine, the paper attempts to re-conceptualise the discourse from a feminist perspective based on a comprehensive notion of security. In this conceptualisation, security is viewed beyond the premises of nation-state; in global perspective. To mainstream such a conceptualisation, the paper argues that there is a strong need for feminist scholarship to engage with other non-feminist scholars of other disciplines.