Feminist Perspective on Russia’s War in Ukraine

This book is indispensable for anyone who seeks to understand Ukraine's steadfast defiance in the face of Russia's war. Maryna Shevtsova has brought together an outstanding interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners to illuminate and theorize the lived experience of war through a Ukrainian feminist lens that is generous and groundbreaking. The authors narrate and theorize the contributions and resistance practices of women and the LGBTQ community during the war--and the novel ways that gender and sexual identity have interacted with the war effort. --Milada Anna Vachudova, UNC Chapel Hill This unique collection brings together scholars and activists who, on the verge of writing, have faced massive changes concerning their own lives and respective profession after the full-scale attack on Ukraine. It is with this in mind that Maryna Shevtsova has collected essays that truly speak to the international feminist (scientific) community, showing what a decolonial feminist approach in international relations, peace, and security studies might look like in the present time. Ranging from analyses of masculinity and femininity in times of war, a critical reading of the feminist foreign policy agenda, a decolonial perspective on peace, to how a non-Western view on the history of the region can describe developments fully, this is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand how lived experiences look like in times of war and what we can all learn from these rich insights. --Stefanie Wöhl, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna