Women and Non Traditional Security: A report
by Chinese scholars
Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), China
The paper intends to introduce the work my colleagues and I have done in the
field of non-traditional security studies as well as our future research plan. It is
divided into two parts. In the first part, I will brief on the contents of the Feminist
International Relations textbook as well as our ensuing tasks. In the second part, I
will give you some information on the newly established Center of Gender & Global
Issues at Beijing Foreign Studies University as well as some of its future work plans.
PART I Promote the Feminist International Relations Textbook
The Feminist International Relations textbook is one of the research subjects
under the program of “Non-traditional Security and China” led by Dr. Wan Yizhou,
sponsored by the Ford Foundation. As part of the “Leading Textbooks on International
Relations” series, it was published in November 2006 by Zhejiang People’s Press.
This book’s target users are undergraduates as well as post-graduates in higher
education institutions. It is not only an ideal teaching material for the course of
Feminist IR Studies, but also a good supplementary reading for such curriculums as IR
Theory, Political Science and Women’s Studies.
Structure
The textbook Feminist International Relations consists of ten parts, including
one introduction and nine chapters:
Introduction (by Li Yingtao)
Chapter 1 Development in the Study of Feminist International Relations (by Hu Yan)
Chapter 2 Gender Identity, Sovereignty and International System (by Hu Yan)
Chapter 3 Gender, War and Peace (by Li Yingtao)
Chapter 4 Gender Perspectives on Power and Security (by Hu Chuanrong)
Chapter 5 Environment Security from a Gender Perspective (by Guo Xiajuan)
Chapter 6 International Women’s Movements and International Organizations (by He
Peiqun)
Chapter 7 Women and Development (by He Peiqun)
Chapter 8 Women, Culture and Nation (by Fan Ruolan)
Chapter 9 Gender and Contemporary Diplomacy of China (by Hu Chuanrong)
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All the content can be roughly divided into four modules.
The introduction and the first chapter can be regarded as the first module. Since
the study of feminist IR is new in China as well as abroad, readers are not very
familiar with its analysis scope and theoretical framework. Thus, the introduction is to
outline the general ideas of feminism, the main research target of feminist IR as well
as the purpose of designing such a course. Besides, it is to define some concepts and
terms that are frequently used in later chapters. Based on a critical review of the
Western theories, Chinese study of feminist IR gradually takes shape. As a result, the
first chapter of this textbook is to review the development, main schools and prospects
of feminist IR, as well as its interactions with mainstream IR theories. Such
elaborations help to sort out the basic threads in the historical and real-life
development in feminist IR.
The second module, including chapters from two to five, is to criticize traditional
IR theories. In pointing to the absence of gender analysis within the mainstream IR
theories, this textbook strives to obtain new theoretical construction based on a
feminist point of view, so as to update the agenda for mainstream IR studies in a
comprehensive fashion.
Chapters from six to eight constitute the third module. If the second module still
revolves around the mainstream IR theories, this module introduces more brand-new
contents and thus further enlarges the scope of IR.
Undoubtedly, feminist researches are indispensable from the development of
international women’s movements as well as the establishment of international
women’s organizations. The sixth chapter of International Organizations and
International Women’s Movements plays the role of transition as to build links
between traditional IR theories and a new feminist perspective. It studies the
international organizations and international women’s movements using the vertical
as well as the horizontal parameters. Within the framework of North-South relations,
the seventh chapter of Women and Development, along the main thread of
development, probes into the relations between the developed North and the
developing South as well as those between men and women. More specifically, it first
clarifies the traditional development concept, revealing the “absence” of women in it;
and then elaborates on the feminist concept of development which is to emphasize
feminist transcending the traditional concept on the development model. That is to say,
feminist theory undertakes an incremental transformation from “women in
development” to “gender and development”, forming a situation in which
multilayered development models coexist. By offering a fresh perspective, feminism
enriches the study of IR. As for the eighth chapter of Women, Culture, and Nation, it
incorporates women’s voice in the previously gender-absent IR study, and thus
investigates the close ties linking women, culture, religion and ethnicity.
The ninth chapter of Gender and Diplomacy in Contemporary China, which is
also the fourth module, focuses on China. Such analysis of the Chinese diplomacy in
contemporary times from a gender perspective is to reveal the vital role of the gender
perspective in China’s theoretical study of IR as well as its diplomatic practice and
development. Feminism not only concerns women themselves, but also raises
questions concerning the development of the whole human being. As a result, this
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chapter first concentrates on the changes inside and outside China in contemporary
times which have transformed the gender concept and brought changes to Chinese
women’s social status. Against the backdrop counted, we examine the development of
feminist world politics in China, analyzing the diplomatic practice of contemporary
China using a gender perspective. Particularly we look into the interactions conducted
by the All-China Women’s Federation, with its foreign counterparts. Based on the
analysis, we make the point that China has been concerned with the state-society
relations and it is engaging mainstreaming gender concept into its foreign policy
decision-making process.
Main Features of this Textbook are as follows:
Firstly, as for the contents, the textbook takes into full consideration the
characteristics of university students, linking theory with practice;
Secondly, in form, the textbook combines both visual and textual elements to
make it quite readable;
Thirdly, the target users cover both undergraduates and graduate students;
Fourthly, as a “Chinese interpretation” of Western feminist IR, this textbook
displays strong Chinese characteristics. All 9 chapters touch upon China as well as
women’s issues in China to various degrees, with the ninth chapter focusing
specifically on China. We design the chapters in such a fashion so as to demonstrate
the crucial role played by the theoretical as well as practical development of China’s
IR studies.
Peng Peiyun, vice chairwoman of the Ninth People’s Congress of P. R. China and
honorary president of All-China Women’s Federation, wrote an epigraph for our book,
calling for scholars participating in the study of gender and global issues “to actively
break new academic ground, and to contribute to the promotion of gender equality.”
As for the Ensuing Tasks, we are to:
First, create curriculum and promote the textbook simultaneously in Beijing
Foreign Studies University, Peking University, China Women’s University, Fudan
University, Yunnan University, Capital Normal University and Tianjin Normal
University. (These universities have consented to open such course.)
Second, build communication network linking the above mentioned universities
and run regular seminars, in the hope to enhance the teaching and research abilities on
the part of teachers.
Third, set up stimulation mechanisms encouraging students to select the course,
such as providing students with opportunities to participate in course-related practical
training, seminars and contests as well as to publish their compositions.
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Part II Introduction to the Center of Gender & Global Issues at
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Based on active preparations and ample deliberations, the Center of Gender &
Global Issues at Beijing Foreign Studies University was set up on 29th November,
2006. Its establishment has received great support from the Ford Foundation and Dr.
Wang Yizhou who is the director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics
(IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Science. Right now the Center has 16 research
fellows from different schools and departments of BFSU, with Professor Jin Li, vice
president of BFSU and expert on gender and English literature studies, as the director.
I, Li Yingtao, professor of the School of International Relations and Diplomacy
(SIRD), BFSU, work as the executive director of the Center.
The main purpose of the Center is to create and promote the curriculum related to
gender and global issues, and to establish communication network linking scholars on
gender and global issues. Through such gender mainstreaming process, we strive to
introduce a gender perspective to China’s diplomatic interactions and foreign policy
making.
There are three major tasks in 2007:
Firstly, begin the curriculum, put in use the Feminist International Relations
textbook, and at the same time promote it nationwide.
Secondly, create a website and a blog for the Center so as to provide a
communication platform for research members and related scholars, and to design its
own database.
And finally, establish a bimonthly salon mechanism and to hold symposiums of
various subjects regularly, in the hope of deepening and further expanding the
research. Besides, in order to enrich China’s study on gender and nontraditional
security issues, we would like to make full use of the language advantage of BFSU
and translate bibliographies, materials and study results into Chinese so as to
familiarize Chinese scholars with new research achievements abroad.
Dr. Li Yingtao
Professor of international Relations
Executive director of Center of Gender and Global Issues
School of International Relations and Diplomacy
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing 100089, China
Email: liyingtao@bfsu.edu.cn, li_ytao@yahoo.com.cn
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