Powers of the Powerless

Abstract

What happens to women in periods of political conflict and how do women express themselves politically at such times? In this collection of essays we consider how women’s experience of public strife conforms to or differs from that of men and how women perceive their interests in the context of a struggle in which their society is engaged.

A number of people, through the interest they have kindly shown in this book and through their inspiration and encouragement, have contributed to the development of this Introduction. In particular I would like to thank members of an informal Oxford women’s social anthropology seminar, convened by Shirley Ardener, who gave me a forum for discussion at an early stage, and Ghazala Bhatti, Helen Callaway, Marieke Clarke and Anne Griffiths who later read and commented on the chapter