Impact of Women Insurgents on Rebel Group Effectiveness

Caglayan Baser

Loyola University Chicago

Abstract:

How does the recruitment of women affect the rebel group resilience? As mainstream research on conflict has overlooked gender until recently, our understanding of how conflict is shaped by gendered-dynamics remains limited. This study provides a detailed examination of the conditions and mechanisms through which women affect the effectiveness of militant groups. It suggests that women substantially contribute to rebel organizations’ ability to challenge governments. Women insurgents contribute most to organizations during crises. They contribute to rebel groups primarily through enabling tactical diversity and appealing to larger audiences, as well as leading the organization’s coup-proofing strategy against intra-organizational factions. The findings are based on the examination of cross-organizational large-N analyses and a qualitative case study of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Variety of empirical sources are used for the analyses, including original data collected on noncombatant women participation in rebel groups, and the archive of PKK’s monthly bulletin between 1982 and 2015..

Discussants:

Reed Wood (Arizona State University)

Mia Bloom (Georgia State University)

Aysegul Aydin (University of Colorado-Boulder)

OPSC Coordinator:

Emily Hencken Ritter (Vanderbilt University)

Graduate Assistant:

Heesun Yoo (Vanderbilt University)