Women and the Contested State: Religion, Violence, and Agency in South and Southeast Asia

Skidmore, Monique; Lawrence, Patricia

Women and the Contested State: Religion, Violence, and Agency in South and Southeast Asia

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Women and the Contested State: Religion, Violence, and Agency in South and Southeast Asia
Book
Edited by Monique Skidmore and Patricia Lawrence
2007
Published by: University of Notre Dame Press

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Throughout South and Southeast Asia, groups battle over definitions of identity—in direction and character—for their state, a struggle complicated by the legacy of colonialism. The contributors to this volume explore the intricate, dynamic relationships that pertain between women's agency and the state-making institutions and armed forces of Kashmir, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Burma (Myanmar). They also address the complex roles of Islam, Hinduism, and Theravada Buddhism in these postcolonial dynamics. In particular, the contributors examine religion as a way of understanding how women’s agency is constituted, created, and constrained during times of conflict with the state and other armed actors, such as guerilla groups and paramilitaries. These essays at the intersection of gender, religion, and peace studies will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students who study conflict and hope for peace in South and Southeast Asia.