Have Debates on Global Justice Ignored the Politics of Gender?

Through this article, I will explore how international debates on peace and justice have used and abused gender politics, particularly with regard to women's rights. Through an analysis of Catharine MacKinnon's constructivist approach towards women's rights and security, and Eleanor O'Gorman's analysis of gender and conflict, I will attempt to discuss how discourses on war, peace and conflict have used the politics of gender and the manner in which debates over global justice have ignored and/or misused the politics of gender, with a case study of women militants in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict. Finally, I will attempt to draw linkages between MacKinnon's theory of consciousness-raising and feminist movements for integrationist policies on global justice, including UN conventions and resolutions, and their implementation. I will specifically explore how women are placed within international relations and human rights debates, and consequently, what roles nation-states play in defining the position of women and their rights within these discourses. Starting with an analysis of what global justice means, I will study three major areas(a) the role of the state and women's position within the international relations discourse with a case study analysis of US-Korea military relations and prostitution; (b) the position of women's rights within the human rights framework; and (c) women's role in war and the way it is constructed in wider debates of global justice. Additionally, I also contend through this article that the state is gendered, and it has a large role to play in affecting and changing the path of women's rights within these discourses.