Imperial Powers and Women

Wars change everything-they affect existing policies, coexistence in society and individual lives. They also have a direct impact on gender arrangements. In war, patriarchal social structures that have long since been overcome are quickly revitalised, or new role models, constellations and logics for women emerge out of necessity-including new attitudes of feminists towards war.

This volume on "Imperial Powers and Women: Trauma, Resistance and Resilience" contains papers presented at the International Conference of the ESWTR (2023) in Lviv. The articles encourage further reflection on whether it is ethically justified for women to participate in male-legitimised war violence to defend their own country from aggressors who inflict violence on women and children and, ultimately, society as a whole. This question poses a challenge for Christian women theologians who, in line with biblical texts feel deeply committed to pacifism and renounce violence. Against this backdrop, this volume provides insight into the different facets of the relationship between imperial powers and women, both past and present. How do they resist the violence of imperial powers? How do women deal with trauma? How do they develop resilience? And what does theology have to say about this?