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War, Violence and Women’s Agency in Pakistan investigates the prominent features of gender ideology in the Swat region, Pakistan and how they influence the norms and forms of women’s agency during conflict.

After 9/11, the War on Terror brought a new wave of anarchy, extremism and violence to the valley of Swat. This book investigates the socio-political structures in the region and examines their impact on women’s political behaviour. The author asks how these patriarchal socio-political structures have contributed to the formation of women’s subjectivities and their ability to subvert and resist patriarchal regimes of oppression. She examines how women experienced militancy, what led them to support or resist the Taliban and how they coped with everyday violence, displacement and resettlement in the period from 2005 to 2010. Multidisciplinary in its approach, the book analyses the norms and forms of women’s agency under the postmodern structure and agency framework of feminist political theory, which views structure and agency as co-constituted and mutually dependent.

Focusing on women’s narratives and the norms and forms of their behaviour from a woman’s perspective, this book is a welcome addition to the analysis of the violence in the Swat region, Pakistan. It will be of interest to scholars of Gender Studies, War and Conflict Studies and South Asian Studies.

Rehana Wagha is currently a visiting lecturer at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. She has been an active member of the South Asia Feminist Alliance (SAFA for ESCR) and Women’s Action for Better Workplaces (WAction) and worked as a consultant with the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW). Her teaching and research interests include war, violence and women’s agency, gendered dimensions of reconstruction and reconciliation, countering gender stereotypes and violent extremism, forced displacements, gender and society, and women’s empowerment.