SECURITY / SAFETY
2.4
Feminism and women's roles in the "security state"
Feminist anthropologists have critiqued the ways in which the protection of women from sexualised violence has been instrumentalised by security policies and humanitarianism. In her book “Saving the Security State”, feminist scholar Inderpal Grewal focuses on the relation between humanitarianism and security in the US.
Humanitarianism could be described as an ethos, a moral imperative to intervene, a set of laws or a form of governance (Ticktin 2014). Mostly, we think of humanitarianism as a way of doing good and improving certain aspects of the human condition, by focusing on human suffering and on saving lives in times of crisis or emergency, for example by providing care and shelter in a conflict zone.
However, anthropologists of gender and security have shown how humanitarian action aimed at combatting “Gender-Based Violence“ (GBV) and “Violence Against Women“ (VAW) have also been used to justify violence and military interventions. The institutionalisation of combatting gendered violence must be seen in the context of UN resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. The resolution was a milestone, because it held that there is no peace without women and that women’s bodily integrity needs to be protected. But it was passed a year before 9/11 and was soon used to justify war in the name of women’s rights. Today the “Women, Peace and Security” (WPS) and GBV agenda “increasingly appears to be a mechanism through which certain masculine ‘others’, particularly Muslim men” are being “demonized and criminalized” (Abu-Lughod, Hammami, Shaloub-Kevorkian, 2023:7).
Inderpal Grewal shows not only how US foreign politics and military interventions are politically framed as rescue operations, but how notions of rescue have entered popular culture. Neoliberal policies are replacing the welfare state and welfare work is increasingly outsourced to private actors and individual citizens. For example, celebrities who invest in humanitarian projects can resurrect their public image and stage themselves as exceptional citizens.
However, there are also regular US citizens, not least women, who desire to help and do good. Without meaning to, they are complying with and upholding the logics of human-security and its practices of surveillance.
Inderpal Grewal coined the term “security mom” to speak about the subject positions of women and mothers in favour of the patriarchal security state.
Listen to what Grewal says in the podcast excerpt below.
Women are not just “security moms“ complying with security regimes. They are also the ones pragmatically fighting for the safety and wellbeing of women (and their children) who are experiencing interpersonal violence at the hands of boyfriends, husbands, and ex-husbands.
Grewal’s analysis reveals how humanitarianism, while framed as a moral imperative, can often align with state security agendas. Yet it also highlights the complex roles women play, both as enforcers of security narratives and as advocates for genuine safety and support.
Author: Serena O. Dankwa
Write Down Your Thoughts
- How do you see this situation playing out in Switzerland or in Europe? Write down your thoughts.
- What other roles do women play in the security state? Write down your thoughts.
- Inderpal Grewal argues that humanitarianism and security have been intertwined in U.S. politics and culture, often positioning citizens – especially women – as both agents of care and enforcers of security.
- How do you see the roles of “doing good” and “maintaining security” overlapping or conflicting in contemporary society?
- Can personal acts of care (like volunteering or advocacy) unintentionally support larger systems of surveillance or control?
- And if so, do you have any ideas how individuals might resist or avoid having their efforts absorbed into these systems?
References
Abu-Lughod, L., Hammami, R., & Shalhoub-Kevorkian, N. (Eds.). (2023). The Cunning of Gender Violence: Geopolitics and Feminism. Duke University Press.
Grewal, I. (2024). On Humanitarianism - with Inderpal Grewal. Podcast Ethnographic Imagination Basel, 11:52-16:38.
Grewal, I. (2017) Saving the Security State. Exceptional Citizens in Twenty-First-Century America. Duke University Press.
Ticktin, M. (2014). “Transnational Humanitarianism.” Annual Review of Anthropology, 43, 273-289.
Téléchargements