New Berghahn Book Series; Editors: Karen Hagemann, Isabel Heinemann, Jasper Heinzen, Thomas Kühne, and Elissa Mailänder

Proposals by: –

Wars and Military Violence cannot be understood without the analytical category of ‘gender’. The same is true for the masculine corporate culture of armed forces, and of the sexual violence perpetrated by soldiers and officers, both within and outside the military. The difficult debates about ‘gender-neutral’ military service triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in several European NATO powers, the still contested involvement of women in combat in an increasing number of armed forces, and the disproportionate number of casualties among women and children in the current wars in Ukraine and Sudan and the Israel-Palestine conflict all make this clear. Therefore, research into the subject of gender, military culture, violence, and war holds not just academic but also social and political importance. The relevance of gender is particularly evident in the current culture wars about diversity, equality, and inclusion, and the efforts of the Republican-led government in the United States to curb the profile of women and LGBTQ+ service members in their armed forces.
Despite a tradition of international and interdisciplinary women’s and gender studies on the military and war dating back to the 1980s, the state of research in various disciplines continues to reveal significant gaps. This new book series initiated by the research network on Military, War and Gender/Diversity seeks to create new opportunities for international and interdisciplinary dialogue by promoting the systematic study of the relationship between gender/diversity, the military, war, and violence as a methodology and subject of research. We understand ‘gender’ as a crucible of intersectional diversity that, in conjunction with social origin, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexuality, disability, religion, and ideological orientation shapes individual and collective identities. Gender is therefore of great relevance for the study of armed forces, military conflicts, and (il)legitimate violence, including sexual and sexualized violence.
We invite submissions for monographs and edited volumes from cultural studies, history, international relations, and the social sciences that address the broadly defined subject of gender, violence, and war across a broad chronological arc spanning early modern, modern, and contemporary history. The geographical remit of the series is global. Continue reading →