Gender, Nationalism, and War

1. Virginia Woolf's purse; 2. Algeria: a world constructed out of ruins; 3. Yugoslavia: archetype or anomaly?; 4. Chechnya: virgins, mothers, and terrorists; 5. Québec: oui, no, or femme; 6. 'To live to see better times': gender, nationalism, sovereignty, equality.

Evangelista, Matthew
Matthew Evangelista is President White Professor of History and Political Science and former chair of the Department of Government at Cornell University.

'A genuinely innovative contribution to the currently intense discussion about the gendered militarization of nationalism. Matthew Evangelista reveals how even serious international filmmakers often unwittingly reinforce wartime patriarchal norms while breaking cinematic conventions.' Cynthia Enloe, Clark University and author of Nimo's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War (2010) Advance praise: 'Matthew Evangelista has written an extraordinary book that transcends disciplinary boundaries to explore and explain the role of gender in nationalist violence. His approach is a challenge to normal political science and demonstrates what can be learned when imagination is applied to unconventional sources like movies. Taking emblematic films that depict the anti-colonial, civil, and ethnic wars in Algeria, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, and Quebec, Evangelista relates violence to threats to masculinity, the inequalities experienced by women, and the ambitions of nationalists. As horrific as the events depicted are, the author does not despair but indicates possible ways to avoid such sanguinary occasions in the future.' Ronald Grigor Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History and Director of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, The University of Michigan