War and Sexual Violence in Historical Perspective
This course examines two related issues. First, modern wars, especially those in the 20th century. Second, sexual violence. After the emergence of the “comfort women” issues, we can no longer consider sexual violence to be a regular, usual, but unimportant feature of war. Rather, we should regard this form of violence as an under-studied area of inquiry and as an issue so relevant today. I would like to emphasize that we take a historical perspective, meaning that we will separate our inquiry from the ongoing politics of memory. Since this politics is so important and so hotly debated, no matter how we talk about it, whatever we say is inevitably biased and self-serving. Instead, we will try to trace how sexual violence became perceived as so grave an issued that it had to be tried in court and justice had to be served. For this purpose, we will also examine the legal, social and military background behind sexual violence in different war situations.
1. Sep. 30 Guidance
[Theories]
2. Oct. 7 Sexual Violence and its varieties
Smith, Merril D. “Introduction,” Smith, Merril D., ed. Encyclopedia of Rape and Sexual Violence. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2018.
On Marital Rape:
Patel, Krina. “The Gap in Marital Rape Law in India: Advocating for Criminalization and Social Change.” Fordham International Law Journal 42 5 (2019): 1519.
Featherstone, Lisa. “‘That’s What Being a Woman Is For’: Opposition to Marital Rape Law Reform in Late Twentieth‐Century Australia.” Gender & History 29 1 (2017): 87-103.
Williamson, Adrian. “The Law and Politics of Marital Rape in England, 1945-1994.” Women’s History Review 26 3 (2017): 382-413.
Topics raised:
– Shaming, disgrace and community in novels involving sexual violence
(Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace. Penguin Books, 2005.)
– Race and sexual violence: Stereotyping the perpetrator and Lynching
(Allen, James. Without Sanctuary : Lynching Photography in America. Twin Palms, 2000.)
– Powerful men, sexual abuse and cover-up, and death by natural causes or suicide. Ex. Jeffry Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Johnny Kitagawa
– Power and sexual intercourse between (male) officers and (female) subordinates in military
– The “vengeful women” narrative regarding marital rape laws across countries
– Internet/video games and sexual violence: lack of regulations
– Etymology of the phrase “carnal knowledge”
– Political history of the 1921? FBI definition of Sexual Violence
3. Oct. 21 Feminist International Relations I
Introduction and Chap 3, Enloe, Cynthia H. Maneuvers : The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000.
On Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will:
Pistono, Stephen P. “Susan Brownmiller and the History of Rape.” Women’s Studies 14 3 (1988): 265.
Serisier, Tanya. “Speaking out against Rape: Feminist (Her) Stories and Anti-Rape Politics.” Lilith: A Feminist History Journal 16 (2007): 84-95.
Topics raised:
– Animal trope and sexual violence
– History of essentialist rape studies
– Essentialist vs. Constructivist.
– Visibility of sexual violence.
– Women soldiers in movies
[The Oct. 28 Class CANCELLED. Please take note that we will have a replacement class on JAN. 6 (Mon.) although, for the afternoon classes on Monday, this date is not a regular class day.]
4. Nov. 7 (Thu) Feminist International Relations II
Sylvester, Christine, “Introducing Elshtain, Enloe and Tickner: looking at key feminist efforts before journeying on,” Feminist International Relations: An Unfinished Journey. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002,18-50.
Additional References:
Sylvester, Christine. Critical Concepts in International Relations. 5 vols. Abingdon ; New York: Routledge, 2011.
Sylvester, Christine. “Contending with Women and War.” Politics & Gender 11 3 (2015): 586-95.
Sylvester, Christine. “Presentando a Elshtain, Enloe Y Tickner: Una Mirada a Los Esfuerzos Feministas Más Importantes Antes De Continuar El Viaje/Introducing Elshtain, Enloe and Tickner: Looking at Key Feminist Efforts before Journeying On.” Relaciones Internacionales 27 (2014)
Topics Raised:
– Slavoy Zizek’s theory of violence and sexual violence
– Implications of the Public / Private dichotomy
– The place of culture in the discourse on rape
– Good and bad of women’s groups as counter-movements against rape
[Sexual Violence in the 20th Century History]
5. Nov. 11 Wartime Rape in Historical Perspective
.Inal, Tuba. “Wartime Rape,” Smith, Merril D. Encyclopedia of Rape. Greenwood Press, 2004.
Topics Raised:
– Categorization of Rape: Exclusionary? or Contextual?
– Feminism as essentialism on sexual differences: Case of Enloe and Tickner? Or is it a counter discourse? Or strategic essentialism?
– Translation of concepts in the documents.
– Why no legal development after WWI?
– Impunity: A History (Despite codification, rape did not stop.)
– “Rape of Nanking,” “Rape of Belgium.” Is this use of “rape” justifiable?
– Ethnic Cleansing and Rape: Is “Cleansing” an appropriate term? (Add. Refs. 1)
– Men-to-men rape in the military (Add. Refs. 2, 3)
Additional References:
1. Mann, Michael. The Dark Side of Democracy : Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
2. Belkin, Aaron. Bring Me Men : Military Masculinity and the Benign Facade of American Empire, 1898-2001. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012.
3. Kwon, Insook. “Masculinity and Male-on-Male Sexual Violence in the Military: Focusing on the Absence of the Issue.” Militarized Currents : Toward a Decolonized Future in Asia and the Pacific. Eds. Shigematsu, Setsu and Keith L. Camacho. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. xlviii, 355 p.
6. Nov. 13 (Wed) Empire and Sexual Violence
Donagan,Barbara. “Law, War, and Women in Seventeenth-Century England,” Heineman, Elizabeth D. Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones : From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
Chap. 2 “Assembling India: The Birth of SITA,” Legg, Stephen. Prostitution and the Ends of Empire : Scale, Governmentalities, and Interwar India. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014. (Part of a chapter)
Topics Raised:
– Proving the absence of rape. (Contrary evidence: written docs are not enough. Archeological evidence for VD. Wider understanding on the context.)
– Use of the term “prostitute” and “sex workers”
– A culturally-loaded term like SITA to frame the whole argument.
– How much should the state intervene?
– The rights of sex workers vs. the state intervention based on certain prior knowledge.
– Do the number of rape incidents and severity thereof have anything to do with the time period (medieval vs modern), religiosity (religious mores vs. secularism), the kind of war, (civil war vs. expeditionary war) or cultural similarities (enemies sharing the same language)?
– Sexual violence in the Irish Civil War
– Validity of the discourse “All sides commit sexual crimes”
Additional References:
Legg, Stephen. “Empirical and Analytical Subaltern Space? Ashrams, Brothels and Trafficking in Colonial Delhi.” Cultural Studies 30 5 (2016): 793-815.
Neill, Jeremy. ““This Is a Most Disgusting Case”: Imperial Policy, Class and Gender in the “Rangoon Outrage” of 1899.” Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 12 1 (2011).
7. Nov. 18 “Comfort Women”
Various sections, Yoshiaki Yoshimi, Comfort women : sexual slavery in the Japanese military during World War II. Translated by Suzanne O’Brien. New York : Columbia University Press, 2000.
Topics Raised:
– Japan’s postwar memory: Effects of the Cold War
– Question of legality: Ex Post Facto or rigourously contemporary?
– Matters of translation / interpretation
– The role of Korean intermediaries in the “comfort woman” system
– The role of the state in forming the system of prostitution
– The notion of coercion / free will upon the legal development on sexual violence cases
– Prime Minister Miyazawa’s visit to ROK and his apologies: Reactions of Korean and Japanese Media
Additional Documents:
Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. (2007) “Japan’s ‘Comfort Women’: It’s Time for the Truth (in the Ordinary, Everyday Sense of the Word).” The Asia-Pacific Journal 5(3).
Soh, Chung-Hee. The Comfort Women : Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
8. Nov. 25 Japanese Militarism and Sexual Violence
Okada, Taihei. “Kempei’s Violence Revisited—The Cordova Incident and Its Place under the Japanese Occupation—” (Paper Copies Distributed)
Topics Raised:
– Should the postwar state be seen as a responsible body for its war crimes?
– The reason why Japan is seen as not remorseful is because conservative politicians repeatedly made denigrating claims against the victims. Is the electoral politics a good place to resolve historical issues?
– Education should be more emphasized (than compensation and apologies).
Recent litigation:
Malaya Lolas bringing the past rape cases to the UN.
9. Dec. 2 Occupation and Sexual Violence
Chap. 2 “Gendered Defeat,” Grossmann, Atina. Jews, Germans, and Allies : Close Encounters in Occupied Germany. Princeton University Press, 2007.
Additional Readings:
Sato, Fumika. “War and Sexual Violence–On the Issue of Justification of Narratives.” Towards a Comparative History of Sexual Violence and War. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2018. [Japanese]
Keck, Margaret E., and Kathryn Sikkink. Activists Beyond Borders : Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Topics Raised:
– Was WWII special or a continuation of the past wars?
– How much should the state be involved in regulating sex?
– Is the legalization of prostitution justifiable? What are the pros and cons?
– A warring state does not have enough power to regulate. Then, would it be right for the state to try to regulate sex in wartime?
– Is rape a systemic issue or an issue of individuals? How do these two perspectives relate to each other?
– Is wartime rape different from other kinds of rape? If so, how?
[Contemporary Issues]
10. Dec. 9 Legal Development
Chap 6, “Conclusions,” Inal, Tuba. Looting and Rape in Wartime : Law and Change in International Relations. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
Additional Documents:
Finalized draft text of the Elements of Crimes, Preparatory Commission for the
International Criminal Court (The Rome Statute)
Topics Raised:
– Can the “Comfort Women” system be judged to be illegal under the Rome Statute?
– In this age, would it be justifiable to compare women to property? Can we justify ourselves if we talk about pillage as equivalent to rape?
– Is human trafficking more prosecutable than rape?
– How can we write an alternative legal history of rape towards the Rome Statute other than comparing pillage and rape?
– Is the sale of ones body equivalent to slavery? Can we consider prostitution as such?
11. Dec. 16 Wartime Sexual Violence in the 21st Century
Buss, Doris. “Seeing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies: The Limits of Visibility.” Buss, Doris, et al., eds. Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies: International Agendas and African Contexts. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Additional Readings:
Theidon,Kimberly, “Gender In Transition: Common Sense, Women And War,” Journal of Human Rights 6(4):453-478
Topics Raised:
– Under which rules, can sexual crimes be prosecuted?
– Who should be prosecuted?
– Under what circumstances would it be appropriate to give testimonies regarding rape?
– What are the missing pieces in the “comfort women” cases, the Visayan Kempeitai case and the Peruvian village cases?
12. Dec. 23 Wartime Sexual Violence in the 21st Century
Ariel I. Ahram, Sexual Violence, Competitive State Building, and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 13:2 (2019)
Additional Readings:
TSCHANTRET, JOSHUA. “Cleansing the Caliphate: Insurgent Violence against Sexual Minorities,” International Studies Quarterly (2018) 62, 260–273
Chynoweth, Sarah, “‘WE KEEP IT IN OUR HEART,’ SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST MEN AND BOYS IN THE SYRIA CRISIS,” UNHCR.
【Due 12:00 noon, Jan. 6. Email to Taihei Okada the bibliographic information of the articles that you have chosen and a few lines about your presentation】
Instruction for the Term Paper
13. Jan. 6 Students’ Presentation
【Due date for Term Paper, 16:50, Jan. 24, Friday @ Senior Division, Admin. 1F. (Hand it to the person inside.)】
岡田泰平研究室 