The Duck of Minerva

Laura Sjoberg

Laura Sjoberg is British Academy Global Professor of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway University of London and Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. Her research addresses issues of gender and security, with foci on politically violent women, feminist war theorizing, sexuality in global politics, and political methodology. She teaches, consults, and lectures on gender in global politics, and on international security. Her work has been published in more than 50 books and journals in political science, law, gender studies, international relations, and geography.

Recent Posts

Epistemethodology (and Feeling?) in IR

by Laura Sjoberg | 27 March, 2010 |

I spent the last day and a half at a workshop on epistemology and method that we hosted at the University of Florida. A lot of interesting conversations took place during the workshop, which I felt fortunate to be able to be a part of and hear. Fellow Duck Patrick Jackson was also here. The one(s) that I have selected to talk about (this time) were not the central ones, but intersect themes with a couple of projects I have been working on this week. The first question I am thinking about is emotion (generally, and desire and sensuality specifically) both in global politics and in our...

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“Girls Don’t Do Math Past Algebra”

by Laura Sjoberg | 23 March, 2010 |

Today, a group of articles in the Washington Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the New York Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and other newspapers, comment on the AAUW (American Association of University Women) report which will be webcast this Thursday. These articles reminded me of a teacher that I'd had when I was young, who, despite my stellar performances in math courses, told me that girls don't do, or need to do, math past algebra. Apparently, I am not alone, as the report lets us know that 40% of women who are now in the surveyed "STEM" (science and engineering) fields were...

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The “Sea Witch,” Ann Hopkins, and Why We Never Seem to Learn about Sex and Gender

by Laura Sjoberg | 16 March, 2010 |

In the print version of Time Magazine, the story linked in the title of this post is itself titled differently. Instead of "The Rise and Fall of a Female Captain Bligh," the story is called "The Sea Witch." Much of the story is the same, however: a female captain in the United States Navy was relieved of her command for "cruelty and maltreatment" of her crew aboard the U.S.S. Cowpens. Among the (ir)relevant tidbits about Captain Graf in the article are: that she remains single, despite the fact that her sister married; that a chaplain once told her she was "a nice lady" who had "a hard job";...

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Agathe Habyarimana, France, and the Rwandan “Genocidaires” fifteen years on

by Laura Sjoberg | 6 March, 2010 |

Early this year, an improvement in French-Rwandan relations led to the French government finally beginning to take note that many of the most serious war criminals in the 1994 Rwandan genocide were living in France without having been tried or punished for their crimes. The French government's previous apathy towards these suspects was part of a long list o problems with accountability for the genocide in other states, internationally (in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), and within Rwandan courts.The last couple of days, a particular (accused) participant in the genocide has...

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More ISA Redux: Diversity Issues in the International Studies Association

by Laura Sjoberg | 27 February, 2010 |

A debate about the mission of the ISA Diversity Committee that started Tuesday at the Governing Council weekend and continued throughout the conference has inspired me to think about diversity issues in the International Studies Association and in a number of our other professional environments. While I will inevitably mischaracterize the contours of this debate - I'll try to describe it quickly as a prelude to what I want to say about these issues. The Diversity Committee (the old mission of which is still on its website, linked above), in reaction to the establishment of the Committee on...

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Gender and Security: Theory and Practice

by Laura Sjoberg | 25 February, 2010 |

My post-ISA blogging is slower than it otherwise would have been, due to an unfortunate interlude with food poisoning. But I figured I'd start with the "working group" that Jennifer Lobasz and I ran at ISA, called "Gender and Security: Theory and Practice," which Charli mentioned in her previous post. A Working Group at ISA meets on the day before the conference, and then twice during the conference, and members are asked to attend common panels around the theme of the group. The stated mission of our group was: The “Gender and Security: Theory vs. Practice” working group aims to develop an...

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Queer Politics/the International Studies Association

by Laura Sjoberg | 11 February, 2010 |

A couple of months ago now, I blogged about the establishment of the LGBTQA Caucus of ISA, asking for support with signatures of dues-paying ISA members. Many of you sent your support, and as a result, the petition had many more than the number of signatures necessary for it to be presented at the Governing Council meeting this coming Tuesday, 2/16. I've recently discovered that my original post was discussed elsewhere in the great "blogosphere" out there, particularly by James Joyner on "Outside the Beltway," arguing that there is no need for an LGBTQA caucus for ISA because LGBTQ activism...

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Thinking about gender and foreign policy

by Laura Sjoberg | 28 January, 2010 |

I am, perhaps, the world's worst guest blogger. I do it rarely, if at all, and in a scattered way. I keep meaning to, but then ... Perhaps I am not suited for this medium of communication. Or maybe I am just distracted. With apologies to my colleagues for my flawed posting habits, however, I am not quite ready to give up on myself-as-blogger, and feel like weighing in on this question of "what to read on gender and foreign policy" might be a good place to make amends for my otherwise neglectful blogging (even if I have not managed to be timely even in this endeavor). First, I'd like to agree...

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An LGBTQA Caucus for ISA

by Laura Sjoberg | 24 November, 2009 |

I know most of you must have thought I disappeared from the blog world. Apparently, I've found something I am unreliable about. I'd tell you it has been a crazy semester, but that would be a bad excuse. I'd promise to do better, but its a promise I'm not sure I can keep. So, instead, I'll just post (for the second time in one night) about something I've been doing some work on ... helping to start the LGBTQA Caucus of the ISA. The purposes of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, and Allies Caucus of the International Studies Association (hereafter the LGBTQA Caucus of ISA)...

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Women’s Bodies on the National and International Agenda

by Laura Sjoberg | 24 November, 2009 |

David Kirkpatrick yesterday wrote in the New York Times about how the health care debate is reviving the abortion debate in US politics. I read this article right after I saw a film that several of my feminist colleagues and friends recommended, called "Not Yet Rain." Among other things at issue in this film is the Helms Amendment to the U.S. 1973 Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the use of U.S. aid funds to "motivate or coerce" or "perform" abortion as a method of family planning, but has been interpreted to deny assistance to clinics that mention abortion as an option or perform it...

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