Theory of feminism: aims to understand the nature of gender inequality

Feminism is the belief that women should have equal rights to men in political, economic and social
spheres. In consequence, the feminist movement fights for equal rights and opportunities for women.
There are many different kinds of feminism and feminists themselves tend to disagree about the ways in
which women are disadvantaged and what exactly should be done to get equal rights. For example,
‘social feminists’ believe that women are exploited by the capitalist system both at work and in the
home.

The term feminism can be used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at
establishing equal rights and legal protection for women. Feminism involves political and sociological
theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, as well as a movement that
advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women's rights and interests. Throughout
history men have had greater power in both the public and private spheres. To maintain this power,
men have created boundaries and obstacles for women, thus making it harder for women to hold
power. There is an unequal access to power.

History of feminism can be divided into three waves. The first feminist wave was in the nineteenth and
early twentieth century, the second was in the 1960s and 1970s, and the third extends from the 1990s
to the present. Feminist theory emerged from these feminist movements.

Feminism has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range of areas within Western society,
ranging from culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights (rights of
contract, property rights, voting rights); for women's right to bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion
rights, and for reproductive rights (including access to contraception and quality prenatal care); for
protection of women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape;for workplace
rights, including maternity leave and equal pay; against misogyny; and against other forms of gender-
specific discrimination against women.

 Advocates of Radical Feminism: Mary Daly

Radical feminism promotes the basis for many of the ideas of feminism. They usually clash with the
ideals of the liberal feminist, because radical feminists believe that society must be changed at its core
not just through acts of legislation in order to avoid oppression. Radical feminists believe that the
domination of women is the oldest and worst kind of oppression in the world. They believe this because
it spans across the world oppressing women of different races, ethnicities, classes and cultures. Radical
feminists want to free both men and women from the rigid gender roles that society has imposed upon
them. It is this sex-gender system that has created oppression and radical feminist's mission is to
overthrow this system by any possible means. Sometimes radical feminists believe that they must rage a
war against men and the gender system which confines them to rigid social roles. They completely reject
these roles, all aspects of patriarchy, and in some cases, they reject men as well. Radical feminists
emphasize their difference from men. They form groups that exclude males completely. This type of
feminist highlights the importance of individual feelings, experiences and relationships.

 Advocates of Liberal Feminism: Betty Friedan

Liberal feminism was most popular in the 1950's and 1960's when many civil rights movements were
taking place. The main views of liberal feminists are that all people are created equal by God and
deserve equal rights. These types of feminists believe that oppression exists because of the way in which
men and women are socialized, which supports patriarchy and keeps men in power positions. Liberal
feminists believe that women have the same mental capacity as their male counterparts and should be
given the same opportunities in political, economic and social spheres. Women should have the right to
choose, not have their life chosen for them because of their sex. Essentially, women must be like men.

Liberal feminists create and support acts of legislation that remove the barriers for women. These acts
of legislation demand equal opportunities and rights for women, including equal access to jobs and
equal pay, greatly increased the status of women, including reforms in welfare, education and health.

 Advocate for Socialist Feminism: Alison Jaggar

Socialist feminists believe that there is a direct link between class structure and the oppression of
women. Western society rewards working men because they produce tangible, tradable goods. On the
other hand, women's work in the domestic sphere is not valued by western society because women do
not produce a tangible, tradable good. This gives men power and control over women. Socialist
feminists reject the idea that biology predetermines ones gender. Social roles are not inherent and
women's status must change in both the public and private spheres.

Socialist feminists like to challenge the ideologies of capitalism and patriarchy. Much like the views of
radical feminists, socialist feminists believe that although women are divided by class, race, ethnicity
and religion, they all experience the same oppression simply for being a woman. Socialist feminist
believe that the way to end this oppression is to put an end to class and gender. Women must work side
by side men in the political sphere. There must be a coalition between the two and they must see each
other as equals in all spheres of life. In contrast to ideals of liberal feminism, which tend to focus on the
individual woman, the socialist feminist theory focuses on the broader context of social relations in the
community and includes aspects of race, ethnicity and other differences.

 Advocate of Cultural Feminism: Carol Gilligan

Cultural feminists believe that there are fundamental, biological differences between men and women,
and that women should celebrate these differences. Women are inherently more kind and gentle.
Cultural feminists believe that because of these differences, if women ruled the world there would be
no more war and it would be a better place. Essentially, a women's way is the right and better way for
everyone. Western society values male thought and the ideas of independence, hierarchy, competition
and domination. Female’s values ideas such as interdependence, cooperation, relationships,
community, sharing, joy, trust and peace but the cultural feminist says these ideas are not valued in
contemporary western societies. Cultural feminists are usually non-political, instead focusing on
individual change and influencing or transforming society through this individual change. They usually
advocate separate female counter-cultures as a way to change society but not completely disconnect.

 Advocate of Ecofeminism: Vandana Shiva

Ecofeminists believe that patriarchy and male domination is harmful to women, as well as the
environment. Men want to rule and conquer women. They also believe that women have a central role
in preserving nature because woman understand and are one with nature. Women need to use their
superior insight to reveal how humans can live in harmony with each other and with nature.

Post feminism

Post-feminism describes a range of viewpoints reacting to feminism. They believe that women have
achieved many goals. The term was first used in the 1980s. It is now a label for a wide range of theories
that take critical approaches to previous feminist discourses and includes challenges to the second
wave's ideas. Other post-feminists say that feminism is no longer relevant to today's society.

CEDAW: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is
an international convention adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an
international bill of rights for women, it came into force on 3 September 1981. Several countries have
ratified the Convention subject to certain declarations, reservations and objections. Iran, Sudan,
Somalia, Qatar, Nauru, Palau, Tonga and the United States have not ratified CEDAW.

Pro-feminism: Support feminism and take steps for women empowerment.

Anti-feminism: Against feminism

Green theory: concerns the international environment cooperation

Green theory in IR is the subfield of IR theory which concern international environment cooperation.
International environmental issues were not seen as central concern in the discipline of IR. The rise in
ecological problems internationally from the 1970s onwards saw the emergence with international
environmental cooperation, which primarily focused on the management of common resources, such as
the oceans, and the atmosphere etc.

In realist and liberal IR theories, environmental degradation is not considered in the game of
international relations, and is merely viewed as an externality. Green theory argues that as our global
ecological crisis grows and becomes more interdependent, there is a greater need for interdisciplinary
scholarship to help solve environmental issues.

The idea of Green Theory arose after WWII when world economies were booming and new technology
began to require greater energy consumption, in turn leading to increases in pollution. Environmental
critics feared the notional of an exponentially growing economy, for it is unsustainable ecologically.
Green Theory and Green political parties emerged to advance the goals of ecological responsibility,
social justice, non-violence, and grassroots democracy.

Green theory criticizes liberalism and socialism both as two different versions of the widely accepted
ideology of industrialism who ignore the ecological and social costs of their actions. Green theorists
instead favor a "ecocentric" philosophy which views all creatures of earth as having value independent
of human beings.

The second wave of green theory came about in the mind 1990's. It sought to transcend traditional
environmentalist beliefs by expanding its scope to a more cosmopolitan philosophy. This new approach
to green theory tried to transform traditional approaches to general concepts like justice, rights, and
democracy by emphasizing how the environment is connected to all aspects of humanity.
There are several variants of green theory. Institutionalists focus on the role international institutions
play in the creation and advancement of environmental degradation and the fight against it. They view
environmentalism as one of many issues that institutions and the global political structure deal with.
They believe that cooperation and interaction can lead to mitigation of the global environmental crisis.

Bio-environmentalists seek to reorganize society so that humans can better live in harmony with the
environment. The believe that endless economic growth along with population growth are the main
causes of the environmental crisis. There ideas involve authoritarianism to change consumption
patterns of individuals and the reorganization of society into smaller, more ecologically friendly
communities.

Social Greens view environmental issues through the social systems of society which generate them.
They view the economical structures of society, as perpetuating the unsustainable system which we
have today. Their solutions involve creating commons between all peoples and society which we don't
have today through local governance.

The emergence of green theory:

Throughout long and complex history, human activity has caused environmental degradation. But until
the period of the industrial revolution and European global expansion, environmental degradation
generally remained uneven and relatively localized. The 'modern ecological crisis' emerged only in the
latter half of the 20th century.

Green theory tried to shed a light on an area that usually goes ignored by the mainstream international
relations theories. But Theorists have approached the political character of the ecological crisis in a
variety ways.

 not all accepted that an overall 'crisis'

The structural incentives of actors (states) operating in relation to open access resources both lead to
the overuse and abuse of those resources, and impede collective efforts for the notion of
'environmental security'.

1980s:

Green social and political theory emerged to give voice to the interrelated concerns of the social
movements has shaped green politics.eg. Environment, anti. Nuclear peace. Also these movements
organize the new green parties at the local, national and regional level mainly in the Europe based on 4
pillars of the green politics. 4 pillars: ecological responsibility, social justice, non violence and grass
roots democracy.

Green Theory and Green political parties emerged to advance the goals of ecological responsibility,
social justice, non-violence, and grassroots democracy. Green theory can divide into two main parts.
 Normative: normative branch is concerned with questions of democracy, the state, justice, rights,
and the environment.
 Political: political economy branch is concerned with understanding the relationship between the
state, the economy and the environment.

Green theorists reject the idea that humans are the top of evolution, the centre of value and meaning in
the world, and the only beings that possess moral worth. Many green theorists have embraced a new
ecology-centered (ecocentric) philosophy that seeks to respect all life forms in terms of their own
distinctive modes of being, and not merely for their influential value to humans.

Theory of peace and conflict

Peace:

Different words that can mean different kinds of peace: inner peace, the absence of war and social
justice. The concept of peace in Friedrich's book intends to merge all those definitions: “The exercising
of freedom, as long as such freedom does not impair the freedom of others.”

Negative peace is the absence of war. A state reached through diplomacy and negotiations.

Positive peace is achieved through the promotion of fair social conditions. It is more like a “peace
building” than a restoration of peace. If strong and just social structures were in place, restoring peace
would not be an issue. Therefore, there is a strong connection between the pursuit of more equality and
the establishment of fair social structures in the areas of human rights, ecological well-being and
awareness through education.

Structural peace: abolishment of unjust and violent structures.

The Peace and Conflict Studies:

Deals with conflicts ranging from the interpersonal to the global level and enables to understand the
dynamics of peace and conflict and to contribute to the creation of more just and peaceable conditions
in the home, the work place, and the world.

Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyses violent and nonviolent
behaviors as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts) with a view
towards understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition.

Peace is also another word for 'harmony'. A variation on this, peace studies is an interdisciplinary effort
aiming at the prevention, de-escalation, and solution of conflicts by peaceful means, thereby seeking
"victory" for all parties involved in the conflict. This is in contrast to war studies which has as its aim on
the efficient attainment of victory in conflicts, primarily by violent means to the satisfaction of one or
more, but not all, parties involved. Disciplines involved may include political science, geography,
economics, psychology, sociology, international relations, history, anthropology, religious studies, and
gender studies, as well as a variety of others.