Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone
Megan H. Mackenzie
The eleven-year civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002
was incomprehensibly brutal—it is estimated that half of all
female refugees were raped and many thousands were killed.
While the publicity surrounding sexual violence helped to
create a general picture of women and girls as victims of the
conflict, there has been little effort to understand female soldiers’
involvement in, and experience of, the conflict. Female
Soldiers in Sierra Leone draws on interviews with 75 former
female soldiers and over 20 local experts, providing a rare
perspective on both the civil war and post-conflict development
efforts in the country. Megan MacKenzie argues that
post-conflict reconstruction is a highly gendered process,
demonstrating that a clear recognition and understanding
of the roles and experiences of female soldiers are central
to both understanding the conflict and to crafting effective
policy for the future.
Product Details
About Megan H. Mackenzie
Reviews for Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone
J. Ann Tickner, co-editor of Feminism and International Relations: Conversations about the Past, Present and Future "MacKenzie is one of the rising international stars of feminist IR war studies and she's clearly one of the best. Her book moves elegantly and respectfully between events she researched in Sierra Leone and her theorizing on conjugal order and gendered insecurity when wars end. Many audiences will want this book, including organizations crafting post-war reconstruction, whose efforts can backfire on women."
Christine Sylvester, editor of Feminist International Relations "Weaving sophisticated theoretical critique and an amazing account of lived experiences during and after war, this book is a powerful, sophisticated, and beautifully written contribution to debates over how one should study gender and world politics. An inter-disciplinary must-read for all concerned with war and security."
Lene Hansen, author of Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War "[] MacKenzies contribution provides a well-written and approachable introduction to the complexities of female soldiering in Sierra Leone.Female Soldiers in Sierra Leoneis therefore of particular use to humanitarians, activists, feminist researchers, and anyone interested in conflict and war."
International Feminist Journal of Politics