A tale of two feminisms in international relations? Feminist political economy and the women, peace and security agenda

A photo depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin in chivalrous fashion, placing his coat around the shoulders of China's first lady at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) dinner made headline news around the world in November 2014 (Allen Ebrahimian 2014). Surely this is not the serious stuff of international politics, IR colleagues commented in social media forums? But from a feminist perspective that pays attention to the pervasive gendering of IR, the image was not at all surprising or trivial. Indeed, the gender symbolism of the image reveals the patriarchal foundations of international politics. Putin, for his part, personifies the linkages between the figure of the male provider at the heart of global economic governance and meetings like APEC and the figure of the male protector of women and children (Enloe 1993) at the heart of the security state system. Copyright (c) The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015.