Gender, education, extremism and security

Abstract

This paper examines the complex relationships between gender, education, extremism and security. After defining extremism and fundamentalism, it looks first at the relationship of gender to violence generally, before looking specifically at how this plays out in more extremist violence and terrorism. Religious fundamentalism is also shown to have gendered concerns. The paper concludes with drawing together the educational implications of these analyses, arguing for a politicised education to promote both national and personal security. Five components are proposed: acceptance of ambiguity rather than absolutism and single truths; a secular basis in human rights; breaking down 'otherness'; reconciliation rather than revenge; and free speech and humour.

Exploring Misogyny across the Manosphere in Reddit

“…Grounded on feminist critiques of language, we created nine lexicons capturing specific misogynistic rhetoric and used these lexicons to explore how language evolves within misogynistic groups. Our results corroborate existing theories of feminist studies, particularly the idea that violence and hostility are increasing toward women online [30], that violent rhetoric and misogyny are co-occurring [8,10], and and that stoicism and flipping the narrative are two contemporary responses to feminism [38].…”

“…With this observational analysis our goal has been to test existing feminist theories and models at scale. Our results do indeed corroborate some of these theories, particularly, the idea that violence and hostility are increasing towards women online [30], that violent rhetoric and misogyny are co-occurring [8,10], and that stoicism and flipping the narrative are two contemporary responses to feminism [38]. Our research supports these positions by exploring the evolution of content and users over time in seven different communities.…”

“…Misogyny is exacerbated by both social and technological factors, according to feminist scholars [30]. Feminists connect the disenfranchisement of women with many other categories of exclusion, such as race, ethnicity and sexual orientation [8,10]. Anonymity and technology affordances are believed to play an further aggravating role in this phenomenon, by giving perpetrators a way of voicing extreme sentiments without taking responsibility for their words or their consequences [5].…”

‘Boys don’t rule us’: exploring Rwandan girls with disabilities’ resistance to masculine dominance in school

“…Groce (1999, vi), for example, argues that 'young women with disabilities and young people with disabilities from ethnic and minority communities continuously face double discrimination based on their disability and their gender or heritage'. More research is needed that looks beyond the dictates of market logics (Davies 2008) and celebratory discourses of Rwanda's progress towards gender equality (Russell 2016;Wallace, Haerpfer, and Abbott 2008), and instead measures the strength of democracy and education in Rwanda (and other parts of the global South) by their relationship to the most marginalised members of its citizenry (UNESCO 2013) -especially economically disadvantaged young women with disabilities. This paper attends to these imperatives.…”

Female Radicalization in Canada

“…161 Other suggestions state that teaching children about human rights, acceptance of alternatives and how many parts of society are socially constructed, diversity and inclusion, and critical thinking can allow children and teenagers to examine and resolve disputes and problems without resorting to violence and with respect for all people in a community. 162 Student activism including human rights advocacy, political public debates with government leaders, and plays and presentations about social justice to younger children can also support a counter-narrative amongst youth.…”