Foreword

The Imperative of Brutality over Morality: A Feminist Perspective on the Gendered Violence Legitimised in Peace and Exacted in War
Author(s): Brenda Sharp

Abstract:
This paper examines the vagaries of war and peace discourse which seek to legitimise the notion of brutality over the principle of morality. In recognition of the limitlessness of brutality the just war tradition was developed to take account of the reasons for going to war and of the conduct of war. Nevertheless, the just war solution can invoke a mode of binary thinking dictating the imperative of brutality over morality during a conflict situation. Feminist scholars argue that traditional just war theory is inadequate to the task to which it is directed. The political theorist Laura Sjoberg is one such scholar who attempts to reformulate just war theory from a feminist perspective. I assess the contribution made by Sjoberg as it relates to the gendered impact of war on women arguing that Sjoberg’s reformulation of just war theory fails to deliver a sufficient rejoinder to the problem of gendered violence in war.

A Foucauldian-Feminist Understanding of Patterns of Sexual Violence in Conflict
Author(s): Harriet Gordon

Abstract:
Foucault’s theories of power, resistance, and agency provide useful tools of analysis to support a stronger understanding of the individual experiences of survivors of sexual violence in conflict situations, as many feminist accounts have tended to focus analysis at the macro-level. This paper will outline key Foucauldian concepts, before discussing how Foucauldian and feminist theories can be complementary and indeed useful tools in understanding sexual violence. This paper will then apply a Foucauldian-Feminist framework to better understand patterns of sexual violence in conflict, and to propose modes of resistance for survivors of sexual violence.

A Theoretical Approach to the Concept of Femi(ni)cide
Author(s): Aleida Luján Pinelo

Abstract:
The concept of “femicide” was first formulated in 1992 by Jill Radford and Diana Russell; nonetheless, it has not been widely discussed in feminist philosophical arenas. This situation has led to a narrow understanding and/or misunderstanding of the concept. For example, it is often applied to a phenomenon mistakenly assumed to occur “only in third world countries” or said to essentialize women. Through a new-materialist methodology, this paper contributes to the discussion on this concept from a feminist theoretical perspective.

Natality and Exposure: A Philosophical Account of the Harm of Sexual Violence
Author(s): Sarah Lafford

Abstract:
From an ontological foundation of natality, drawing from Hannah Arendt and Adriana Cavarero, this paper concludes that sexual violence uniquely undermines being-in-the-world and being-in-the-world-with-others. The framework of natality is not usually directly applied to sexual violence. Natality roots us ontologically in birth, beginnings and relationality. While the promise of the natal inclines the subject outwards, towards others, the horror of rape freezes victims in objectification, exploits exposure and entangles victims physically and psychically with their abuser. Sexual violence is the very antitheses to the promise of the natal.

Recognition and the Harms of “Cheer Up”
Author(s): Fiona Vera-Gray, Bianca Fileborn

Abstract:
A philosophical frame for violence against women and girls creates unique opportunities to deepen our understanding of the embodied consequences of men’s violence. Using the seemingly innocuous example of being told to “cheer up” or “smile”, we draw on Simone de Beauvoir and Franz Fanon’s work on recognition to suggest that a phenomenological approach to sexual violence may help to voice previously inarticulable harms. The dual frame of Beauvoir and Fanon also highlights the need for philosophical work on sexual violence to take account of the insights of intersectionality.

Dirty Pleasures: The Ethics of the Representation of Sexual Violence
Author(s): David Edward Rose

Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually violent imagery cannot be justified with reference to participants nor matters of taste. Rather, the present paper seeks to distinguish objectification and alienation and apply this distinction to the issue of the representation of sexual violence. Alienation is the morally problematic category because systems of domination and control determine the expressions and consumption of desires, but this means that the violence in such material may well be a red herring.

Sex and Death in True Detective. A Story of Power
Author(s): Nadine Boudou

Abstract:
The paper aims to show how the TV series True Detective (season 1, 2014—created and written by Nic Pizzolatto) aids us understanding the status of power whether in its political, judicial or religious form. The conjunction of sex and death is depicted through acts of paedophilia, rape, and murder of women and children. The study aims to elucidate the logic which is inherent to those acts of violence and which founds the reproduction of social domination mechanisms.

The Repression of Collaboration Féminine during the Libération and its Depiction in French Graphic Novels
Author(s): Camille Roelens

Abstract:
This paper introduces a hermeneutical approach to graphic novel representations of punishments inflicted on women accused of collaboration with the German occupant during the French purge in 1944–1945. Since the study aims to determine to establish links between graphic novels and the evolutions of the historiography of the Occupation and Liberation of France, it includes a historiographical component. Drawing on other cultural medias who have dealt with this theme (novels, movies, poems, songs), the aim is also to identify the meaning given by artists to their portrayals of shorn and assaulted women. The paper eventually introduces a broader philosophical reflection on the emancipation from authoritarianism. It is the study’s contention that graphic novelists are offering a feminist discourse and are using the theme of shorn and assaulted women during the liberation as a reminder of the late emancipation of women from male domination.

Women: The Victims of their People. A Girardian Reading of Alexis Wright’s Plains of Promise
Author(s): Mylène Charon

Abstract:
How do René Girard’s theories apply to a context of double colonization? Through a new interpretation of Alexis Wright’s novel Plains of Promise, this paper aims to show the cross-cultural relevance of mimetic theory. The study will highlight the way in which the scapegoat mechanism is represented in the Australian colonial context. It also offers a Girardian analysis of the predicament of female characters of Aboriginal descent who are victims of sexual violence.

Reineke, Martha. Intimate Domain: Desire, Trauma, and Mimetic Theory
Author(s): Iulia Grigorie

Contributing Authors