(iPoster) Women and Nationalist Violence: A Comparison of the Basque Country and Corsica

• In Event: Poster Session: Women, Gender, and Politics Research

Abstract

The role of women in violent nationalist conflict remains underexplored. More specifically, the extent to which women become active combatants as well as leaders within radical nationalist organizations has not been the subject of much research. Using a comparison of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ) in the Basque Country and the FLNC (Front de libération nationale corse) in Corsica, this paper looks to explain the role of women in violent nationalist conflict. An empirical comparison of these two cases yields a puzzle: women took much greater active combatant and leadership roles in the Basque country than in Corsica. While much of the literature attempts to explore women’s motivations for engaging in combat and leadership roles in radical nationalist organizations, this paper seeks to explore under what conditions, and interactions of said conditions, are women are more likely to attain such positions within statistically male-dominated organizations. As such, the paper proposes an explanation based on the interactions between three conditioning variables: the socialization of conflict and experiences of violence; the ideological framework of the organization; and the nature of the leadership and organizational structures of the organization. While much of the Western feminist exploration of nationalism decries nationalism as hostile for women’s liberation, this paper argues that the specific ideological composition of the nationalist movement can play a facilitative or impeding role for women’s advancement in the organization. Moreover, the construction of the nationalist grievance and the socialization and experiences with violence are important for the way in which they not only inform the ideological framework of the radical nationalist organization, but for how they can create pathways for women to increase their engagement with militant nationalism. Finally, the paper considers the patterning impacts of leadership and organizational structure in limiting or diversifying avenues to leadership and combat roles. From a methodological perspective, this paper draws from semi-structured interviews conducted with women combatants and other past members of ETA and FLNC as well as other materials such as biographical accounts. The paper contributes to the field of nationalism studies by examining the role of gender in the context of traditionally male-dominated clandestine organizations and violent struggles.

Authors

• André Lecours, University of Ottawa

• Stephanie Kerr, University of lethbridge

• Ornella Graziani, Università di Corsica - UOttawa