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Research Network

Research Network on “Military, War and Gender/Diversity” (MKGD)

 

 

The war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022 with Russia’s attack on Ukrainian territory, the recent conflict in the Middle East triggered by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, and many other military conflicts in the past and present demonstrate the importance of gender and diversity for our understanding of the military and war. The international and interdisziplinary research on the subject by gender scholars emphasizes that the meanings, causes and consequences of military conflicts cannot be understood without taking the analytical category of “gender” into account. The same applies to the functioning and culture of armed forces and their use of legitimate and illigitimate violence, which also includes sexual and sexualized violence. Research into the topic of military, war and gender/diversity is therefore not only of academic relevance, but also of social and political importance. Nevertheless, there are still large gaps in the research of historical, cultural, social and political sciences.

Here the  research network on “Military, War and Gender/Diversity” / “Militär, Krieg und Geschlecht/Diversität” (MKGD) wants to initiate change. Since it was officially founded in Potsdam on 11 March 2024 at a kick-off workshop at the Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences (Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr, ZMSBw), over thirty scholars from universities and  research institutions from eight countries (Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA) have joined the interdisciplinary alliance to date. The ZMSBw is one of the main cooperation partners, another is the Working Group of Military History (Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte, AKM). The University of the Bundeswehr Munich is supporting the network too.

Aims and Central Questions

The MKGD research network is intended to provide an academic space and institutional framework for the important research field of military, war and gender/diversity in Germany and Europe. The aim is to systematically promote the study of the relationship between gender/diversity, the military and violence as a research approach and subject through interdisciplinary and international cooperation. The research network will contribute to the networking and regular exchange between experts working in this field from various disciplines, systematically promote the work of young researchers and encourage the development joint research projects that address important research desiderata in this area. Various degrees and forms of participation in the research network are possible and desirable.

The central question of the research network is what significance the military and war have had and still have as “gender producers” in the past and present, and vice versa, to what extent ideas of gender/diversity have shaped the military and its practices of violence in times of peace and war and still do so today. This question can only be meaningfully addressed in an interdisciplinary manner, which is why historians are working closely with social and cultural scientists in the research network.The period to be considered is the 17th to 21st centuries. The regional framework will be global.

Resources of the Research Network

The resources of the research network are the MKGD mailing list (mkgd@lists.unibw.de) and the MKGD website, as well as the MKGD online research colloquium, which started in the summer semester of 2024 and will regularly comprise four events in the summer and the winter semester. It is hosted by the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The topic of the MKGD online research colloquium in the  winter semester 2024-25 is “Military, War and Gender/Diversity: State of Research and Research Problems.”

In addition we plan an international annual MKGD-ZMSBw conference, which usually take place at the end of January, and is organized by the MKGD, ZMSBw, University of the Bundeswehr Munich and other cooperation partners. The  theme of the first international MKGD-ZMSBw conference is “Gender and Violence in Colonial Wars, Colonial Rule and Anti-colonial Liberation Struggles“. It will take place on January 30 and 31, 2025  at the ZMSBw in Potsdam.

Furthermore, a group of younger scholar initiated under the umbrella of the MKGD research network  the  MKGD Early Career Inititative for Masters’ students, PhD candidates, recent PhDs, and PostDocs who work on the theme in November 2024.

For a flyer on the MKGD research network click here

 

Academic Directors and Spokeswomen of the MKGD Research Network

  • Prof. Dr. Isabelle Deflers
    Professor of Early Modern History at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany
    Email: isabelle.deflers@unibw.de
  • Prof. Dr Karen Hagemann
    James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History and Adjunct Professor of the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
    Email: hagemann@unc.edu