Female Suicide Bombings

"Female Suicide Bombings does a good job of contrasting a critical approach to a problem-solving one. Knight and Narozhna provide many excellent examples of a critical feminist approach as well as show the limitations of traditional research." -- Michael G. Schechter, Professor Emeritus, James Madison College, Michigan State University "The themes discussed in Female Suicide Bombings are attractive, little known and will generate interest among scholars. Tanya Narozhna and W. Andy Knight have done a great amount of original research and investigation." -- Vesselin Popovski, Senior Academic Program Officer, United Nations University

FemaleSuicide Bombings critically examines and challenges common assumptions of this loaded term. Tanya Narozhna and W. Andy Knight introduce female suicide bombings as a socio-political practice and a product of deeply politicized, gendered representations.

As media coverage of terrorism and terroristic acts has increased so too has the discussion about the identities, motives, and gender of the perpetrators. Over the past fifteen years, there have been over 150 reported suicide bombings committed by women around the world. Because of its prominence in media reporting, the phrase “female suicide bomber” has become loaded with gendered notions and assumptions that elicit preconditioned responses in the West.

FemaleSuicide Bombings critically examines and challenges common assumptions of this loaded term. Tanya Narozhna and W. Andy Knight introduce female suicide bombings as a socio-political practice and a product of deeply politicized, gendered representations. Drawing on a combination of feminist and post-colonial approaches as well as terrorism studies literature, the authors seek to transcend ideological divisions in order to enhance our understanding of how gender, power, and academic practices influence our perceptions of female suicide bombings.