Eggert, Jennifer Philippa (2017) When the war started, I was ready : organisational motivations for the inclusion of female fighters in non-state armed organisations during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Analysing individual motivations, organisational characteristics, security pressures and societal factors, this thesis focuses on organisational motivations for the inclusion of female fighters during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). It examines why some of the non-state armed organisations (or militias) involved in the war included women as fighters whereas others did not. This thesis is the first comprehensive analysis of the topic, and the first study which takes into account the roles of women in all major militias involved in the war, including the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), Lebanese Kataeb Party (Kataeb), Lebanese Forces (LF), Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and Amal Movement (Amal). This thesis is based on semi-structured interviews with 69 former male and female fighters, party members, civil society representatives, researchers and journalists. Fieldwork was conducted during four one- to six-week-long field visits to Lebanon between the summer of 2015 and autumn 2016.
Moreover, four (auto)biographies of former female fighters were included in the analysis.

This thesis argues that the main reason for female participation in the militias involved in the Lebanese civil war was women’s insistence to be included. Organisational barriers to women’s inclusion in those militias that were not entirely in favour of female participation, such as the militias of the (centre) right, was overcome due to the security context. Overall, societal opposition to female participation remained relatively high, which is why (compared with other conflict contexts) the overall number of female fighters was not higher.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Lebanon -- History -- Civil War, 1975-1990., Militia -- Women -- Lebanon.
Official Date:	27 September 2017
Dates:	Date Event 27 September 2017 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Alison, Miranda H., 1976 ; Pratt, Nicola Christine.
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) ; Council for British research in the Levant.
Extent:	[x] 394 leaves.
Language:	eng

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