Special issue introduction for terrorism, gender and women: Toward an integrated research agenda

This special issue encourages a greater integration of gender-sensitive approaches to studies of violent extremism and terrorism. It seeks to create and inspire a dialogue by suggesting the necessity of incorporating gender analysis to fill gaps within, and further enhance, our understanding of political violence. In this introductory essay, I argue that there have traditionally been four approaches to understanding the interplay between gender and terrorism– positivist or “gender-as-a-variable”, instrumentalist, gendered motivations, and gender-based analysis and/or feminist methodology. Terrorism, Gender and Women: Toward an Integrated Research Agenda intends to advance a discussion of new ways in understanding how women and men can be affected by terrorism and violent extremism differently, and how involvement can often be influenced by highly gendered experiences and considerations.