Women and Weapons [Audio]

LSE Podcasts

Speaker(s): Ray Acheson, Dr Renata Dwan, Rebecca Johnson | Launching the Arts and Humanities Research Council research project, A Feminist International Law of Peace and Security, that asks how a feminist reading of International Law can further disarmament and promote sustainable peace, a panel of leading experts discuss the role of women and disarmament. For over a century women activists have played a leading role in seeking universal disarmament and arms control and in initiating peace projects – from the 1915 Women’s Peace Congress in The Hague through to the negotiations for the Nuclear Prohibition Treaty in 2017. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has continuously lobbied for ‘total and universal disarmament’ and for nineteen years women protested at Greenham Common against the placing of cruise missiles in the UK. Despite these and many other efforts it is argued that rather than promoting peace, contemporary international law sustains militarism and legitimates the use of force. And today we confront the threats of growing militarisation and military expenditure. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported in May 2018 that ‘military spending in 2017 represented 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) or $230 per person.’ In addition new technologies are constantly used to increase the global weapons arsenal. These challenges urgently require responses to pressing questions. Ray Acheson (@achesonray) is the Director of Reaching Critical Will, a project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Renata Dwan (@RenataDwan) is Director, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. Rebecca Johnson (@GreenRebJohnson) is Executive Director, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. Anna Stavrianakis (@StavrianakisA) is Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Sussex. Christine Chinkin is Founding Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security and currently leading an AHRC project 'A Feminist International Law of Peace and Security'. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEFILPS