Confronting the International Patriarchy

Elite leaderships of Iran, Iraq and the US operate within a male-centric system of international relations. Iran and Iraq have been accused of suffering from a ‘democracy deficit’ but little attention is paid to how external states – often in the name of women’s liberation – inflict collective punishments that severely restrict the political and economic participation of women in the Middle East. This book, written from the perspective of feminist international relations, demonstrates women’s joint efforts to confront competing sections and shifting alliances of the international patriarchy. Authored by women with roots in the Middle East and the West, the chapters in this book give examples of resistance ranging from the Iranian March 8 Women’s Organization, to a legal challenge led by feminist activists to the seemingly monolithic power of the UN Security Council.