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“Lesley J. Pruitt explores one of the most important and controversial developments in the Women, Peace, and Security agenda over the past decade—the deployment of an Indian all-female formed police unit to Liberia. In exploring this unit from the perspectives of both the peacekeepers on the mission and the policy makers in the UN, Pruitt provides a compelling assessment of the importance of making progress toward gender equality in peacekeeping missions and the challenges that remain toward realizing such progress.”—Kyle Beardsley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke Unversity
“Pruitt’s The Women in Blue Helmets is a powerfully original analysis of the first and longest-standing all-female formed police unit (FFPU), one of the most talked about and photographed ‘success stories’ of gender-mainstreaming as a global policy to date. Many have wanted to rush to conclusions about the relative (in)effectiveness of having all-female units on the ground without investigating the historical, cultural, and economic context. Pruitt’s thoughtful narrative research provides a necessary first step in a more nuanced understanding and is important reading for scholars and practitioners engaged in theoretical or policy debates about women’s capacity in peacekeeping and the future of gender mainstreaming as a global norm.”—Natalie Hudson, author of Gender, Human Security, and the UN: Security Language as a Political Framework for Women
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The FFPU in a Global Context
2. How the FFPU Began
3. Women at Work: Securing the Peace
4. Political Economy, Women, and Peacekeeping
5. Who’s Afraid of the Girls? Fears about FFPUs
6. Increasing Women’s Participation in Peace and Security
Conclusion
Appendix: Interviews
Notes
References
Index
About the author
Lesley J. Pruitt is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Summary
Tells the story of the first all-female police unit deployed by India to the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia in January 2007. The author investigates how the unit was originated, developed, and implemented, offering an important historical record of this unique initiative.
Additional text
"[Presents] valuable insights into the ongoing deliberations regarding the rationale for and political implications and assessment of the role of female peacekeepers."
