Laura J. Shepherd
Department of Government and International Relations, The University of Sydney, Australia
The editors of the International Feminist Journal of Politics invited me to curate a virtual special issue on the theme of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda as a partner project to the themed collections we will be publishing in issues 22(4) and 22(5).[i] Intellectually, I was excited by this prospect, by the opportunity to revisit all of the sharp and insightful analysis of the WPS agenda in all its various manifestations that the journal has published over the years (and, yes, a little daunted by the task of having to decide which of the multitude of worthy articles to include in this collection). As a feminist scholar and a WPS nerd, it would surprise no one who knows me that I was delighted and very motivated by this project. I was surprised, however, at the extent to which the project moved me personally, as I read abstracts and re-read articles and remembered back through my own WPS research and my involvement with the journal in the process of curating this collection. Usually, an introduction of this kind offers a rationale for the project, often an intellectualisation of a passion or enthusiasm, and a thinly rendered account of each of the contributions. I am offering instead a more personal reflection on what it means to me to be introducing this collection of stellar WPS-related research, in this journal, which has been built by our community over almost the same time period throughout which the WPS agenda has become embedded in the global governance of peace and security.
Continue Reading the Introduction
Please enjoy the following articles with until February 28, 2021.
[i] These collections are on the themes of ‘Situating Women, Peace and Security: Theorising from “the local”’, which will be published in 22(4), and ‘Knowing Women, Peace and Security: New issues and new modes of encounter’, forthcoming in 22(5).
