Feminist Identity Development and Activism in Revolutionary Movements - by T O'Keefe (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book examines the development of feminist identities among women active in revolutionary movements and how this identity simultaneously contributes to and conflicts with the struggle for women's emancipation. It is based on groundbreaking interviews with women who were active in the contemporary Irish republican movement and activists in the broader women's movement. The book explores how and why women became active in the armed Irish republican movement including an intricate examination of their roles within the IRA. It documents how the gendered experiences of the conflict and of participation in republicanism fostered feminism in many women and how this newfound republican feminism was positioned relative to the broader women's movement in the Northern Ireland. This comparison raises significant questions regarding the limitations of autonomous women's organising and its ability to be inclusive. "--

Book Synopsis

This book examines how many women active in revolutionary movements develop feminist identities and how this identity simultaneously contributes to and conflicts with the struggle for women's emancipation.

Review Quotes

"The aim of the book is to show how feminist identity development and nationalism can be interlinked. ... as a contribution to the bodies of literature on conflict and peace studies, gender studies, theory on nationalism and critical social movement theory, this book supplies the discourse of 'women in war" with a fresh disrupting of the boundaries constructed around the representation of women in armed conflict." (Annette Behrens, Interface, Vol. 7 (2), November, 2015)

About the Author

Theresa O'Keefe is Assistant Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.