Anarchy and Patriarchy in World Politics

This essay considers anarchy in light of the dynamics of patriarchy in world politics. Western and non-Western patriarchal structures shape and constrain what states are, what they do, and how. They have played a crucial role in the constitution of state identities, diplomatic practices, and the maintenance, transformation, and expansion of the society of states. The unravelling of patriarchal structures in many parts of the world has implications for international society and the quest for order and justice. The increasing breakdown of patriarchal social contacts is fuelling gendered violence at all levels, including the explicit targeting of women and girls in intra-state and international conflicts. This violence is at once an embodiment of, and a threat to, sovereign statehood. If patriarchal society once consolidated the anarchical society in Europe, then it now also challenges that society from within and without as well as the possibility of its expansion

Constitution · Economic Justice · Patriarchy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science) · Anarchism and Radical Politics · Gender Studies · Law · Hedley Bull · History · International organization · International Relations · World politics