Beyond battlefields: a feminist lens on global politics & India's wps agenda

The Unseen Battlefield: Reframing Global Politics with a Feminist Lens

For centuries, the study of International Relations (IR) resembled a grand chessboard, focusing exclusively on the moves of kings, presidents, and generals—the so-called ‘high politics’ of war, treaties, and state power. This traditional view, however, misses more than half the picture. What if our understanding of global conflict, security, and economy is fundamentally flawed because we’ve been ignoring the roles, experiences, and power of half the world’s population? This is the provocative question posed by Feminist International Relations theory.

Imagine trying to understand a city by only looking at its government buildings. You would miss the markets, homes, schools, and hospitals where daily life happens—the very systems that allow the city to function. Feminist IR provides this richer, more complete map of our world. It shifts the focus from an exclusive analysis of inter-state relations to a comprehensive view of how gender—the socially constructed roles and identities of men and women—shapes power, conflict, and peace on a global scale.

One of the most foundational thinkers in this field, Cynthia Enloe, famously urged scholars to ask a simple yet revolutionary question: “Where are the women?” By asking this, she reveals that international politics isn’t just in embassies but also in our homes, on military bases, and in factories. The personal, Enloe argues, is profoundly international.

Analogy: Traditional IR is like watching a play but only seeing the actors on stage. Feminist IR takes you backstage, showing you the directors, stagehands, costume designers, and audience, revealing that the performance is a product of this entire ecosystem, not just the visible actors.

Deconstructing Power: Core Tenets of Feminist IR

Feminist IR is not a single theory but a diverse set of perspectives united by a few core principles:

1. Making the Invisible, Visible: A primary goal is to highlight the experiences of women, who are often rendered invisible in traditional accounts of war and diplomacy. This includes recognizing women not just as victims of conflict but also as active agents in peace movements, community organizing, and resistance. For instance, while official histories focus on male soldiers, feminist analysis examines the roles of female spies, military nurses, and the women whose unpaid labor sustains the home front.

2. Challenging the Public/Private Divide: Traditional IR creates a false separation between the ‘public’ world of politics and the ‘private’ world of the family. Feminists argue this divide is artificial and political. Domestic violence, for example, is not a ‘private’ issue when it becomes a weapon of war through mass rape, or when patriarchal norms at home influence aggressive foreign policy.

3. Redefining Security: Is a state truly secure if half its population lives in constant fear of gender-based violence? Feminist scholars expand the concept of security beyond state borders and military might to include human security, which encompasses freedom from want and fear, access to healthcare, and personal safety.

The Policy Frontier: The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda

The most significant real-world application of feminist IR principles is the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, born from the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) adopted in 2000. This was the first resolution to recognize the unique impact of armed conflict on women and their crucial role in peace-building.

UNSCR 1325 rests on four foundational pillars:

• Participation: The demand for increased participation of women at all levels of decision-making, from peace negotiations to post-conflict governance.
• Protection: The need to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence in conflict.
• Prevention: The importance of preventing violence against women through rule of law, and incorporating a gender perspective in conflict prevention.
• Relief and Recovery: Ensuring the specific needs of women and girls are met in post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian response.

Mnemonic for WPS Pillars: To remember the four pillars, think “3P’s and an R”: Participation, Protection, Prevention, and Relief & Recovery.

The 2024-2025 Reality Check: Progress and Peril

Despite this framework, recent developments paint a challenging picture. A 2024 UN report highlighted that global military spending reached a record high, while funding for gender equality in developing countries faces a massive shortfall. Furthermore, women’s direct involvement in peace processes remains alarmingly low. As of 2024, only about 1 in 10 peace negotiators globally were women, a figure that has seen little progress over the past decade. This implementation gap between policy and practice remains the greatest challenge to the WPS agenda.

Fun Fact: Research consistently shows that when women participate in peace processes, the resulting agreement is 35% more likely to last at least 15 years. Their inclusion is not just about equity; it’s about effectiveness.

India’s Evolving Role: From Global Peacekeeper to a ‘Women-Led’ Future?

India has a long and celebrated history of contributing to UN peacekeeping, including deploying the first-ever all-female police unit to Liberia in 2007. However, its domestic engagement with the WPS agenda has been paradoxical.

The Latest Scenario (2023-2025): A significant shift occurred during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023, where it championed the theme of ‘women-led development’. This signaled a high-level political commitment to centering women in economic and social progress. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has also acknowledged the need for a “gender-balanced” foreign policy.

Despite this positive momentum, India remains one of the few major countries yet to adopt a formal National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing UNSCR 1325. A NAP is a critical tool that translates international commitments into concrete domestic policies and budgets. While there are numerous government schemes for women’s empowerment, the lack of an integrated NAP for the WPS agenda remains a significant policy gap noted by analysts as recently as September 2025.

| Critical Policy Appraisal | | :--- | :--- | | Challenges/Criticisms | Opportunities/Successes/Way Forward | | No National Action Plan (NAP): India lacks a cohesive national strategy for implementing UNSCR 1325, leading to ad-hoc efforts. | ‘Women-Led Development’ Push: The G20 focus provides a powerful narrative and political will to advance gender mainstreaming. | | Implementation Gap: Despite international commitments, women’s representation in domestic security and political decision-making remains low. | Leveraging SHGs: Successful models like the Self-Help Group (SHG) program in Jammu & Kashmir can be scaled up as a template for women’s participation in conflict-affected areas. | | Patriarchal Norms: Deep-seated societal norms continue to pose barriers to women’s full participation in public life. | Global Leadership: By creating a context-specific NAP, India can position itself as a leader for the Global South in implementing the WPS agenda. |

** Analytical Lens: UPSC Focus (Mains & Prelims)**

• Conceptual Basis: UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) is the foundational legal and political document for the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. It is the primary instrument that institutionalized the feminist perspective on international security within the UN framework.

• UPSC Integration: Connecting the Dots

  • GS Paper 2 (Polity & International Relations): The WPS agenda directly relates to India’s foreign policy, its role in the UN, and its aspirations for a permanent Security Council seat. Domestically, it connects to issues of women’s representation in Parliament and local governance (73rd/74th Amendments).
  • GS Paper 1 (Social Issues): The topic is deeply linked to the role of women and women’s organizations, communalism, regionalism, and the impact of globalization on women.
  • GS Paper 3 (Internal Security): A gendered perspective is crucial for understanding and resolving internal security challenges, including left-wing extremism and insurgencies, where women are both victims and sometimes participants.

• Future Impact & Policy Relevance: The global security landscape is becoming more complex with rising conflicts and geopolitical instability. The effectiveness of peace and security initiatives will increasingly depend on their inclusivity. For India, formally adopting a WPS National Action Plan is not just about gender equality; it’s a strategic imperative. It would enhance the credibility of its ‘Vishwa Guru’ ambitions, strengthen its case for a larger role in global governance, and provide a more robust framework for resolving its own internal conflicts. The debate is shifting from if women should be included to how their inclusion can be made most effective.

• UPSC Prelims Practice Question (MCQ):

  Which of the following are the officially recognized pillars of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security?

  1. Participation
  2. Prosecution
  3. Protection
  4. Prevention
  5. Relief and Recovery

  Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only (b) 1, 3, 4 and 5 only (c) 2, 3 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

  Answer: (b) Explanation: The four official pillars of the WPS Agenda as established by UNSCR 1325 and subsequent resolutions are Participation, Protection, Prevention, and Relief and Recovery. ‘Prosecution’ is an element within the ‘Prevention’ and ‘Protection’ pillars (i.e., prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence), but it is not a standalone pillar itself.

• UPSC Mains Sample Question (15 Marks):

  “While India has championed ‘women-led development’ on the global stage, its approach to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda remains largely external and fragmented. Critically analyze this statement. What strategic advantages could India gain by adopting a formal National Action Plan for UNSCR 1325?”

Mind Map Outline (Revision Structure)

• Feminist Understanding of International Relations
  • Core Challenge to Traditional IR
    • State-centric and militaristic focus
    • Invisibility of women and gender
    • Analogy: The ‘Chessboard’ vs. the ‘Complete City Map’
  • Key Thinkers & Concepts
    • Cynthia Enloe: “Where are the women?”
      • The Personal is International
      • Examples: Diplomatic wives, factory workers
  • Fundamental Tenets
    • Making the Invisible Visible
    • Deconstructing Public vs. Private Dichotomy
    • Expanding the definition of ‘Security’ to ‘Human Security’
• From Theory to Policy: The WPS Agenda
  • Legal Backbone: UNSCR 1325 (2000)
    • Recognized unique impact of conflict on women
    • Affirmed women’s role as agents of peace
  • The Four Pillars (3P’s and an R)
    • Participation: At all decision-making levels
    • Protection: From SGBV (Sexual and Gender-Based Violence)
    • Prevention: Gendered conflict prevention, rule of law
    • Relief & Recovery: Addressing specific needs of women/girls
  • Modern Challenges (2024-2025 Data)
    • Chronic underfunding of WPS agenda
    • Stagnant participation rates (~10% of peace negotiators)
    • Gap between policy rhetoric and on-ground implementation
• India and the WPS Agenda
  • Historical Context
    • Leader in UN Peacekeeping (e.g., All-Female Unit in Liberia)
  • Recent Developments (2023-2025)
    • G20 Presidency: Push for ‘Women-Led Development’
    • High-level statements on ‘gender-balanced’ foreign policy
  • The Policy Paradox
    • Criticism: Lack of a formal National Action Plan (NAP)
    • Strength: Successful grassroots models (e.g., SHGs in J&K)
  • Critical Appraisal
    • Challenges: No NAP, implementation gaps, patriarchal norms
    • Opportunities: Global leadership, leveraging domestic successes