Global Friday Presents
Dr. Luna KC
Assistant Professor, Global and International Studies
University of Northern British Columbia

Abstract: In recent wars, women’s participation in armed conflict has grown substantially. There is much debate on why women join armed conflict. Some argue women are fascinated with armed groups' emancipation and freedom ideologies. Others suggest women are motivated by loyalty, seeking protection, or taking revenge. Few studies have shown how war advances gender roles. War is a gendered process, yet less is known about how war is a women’s issue, how women's mobilization in wars shifts war’s agenda, and how women’s participation influences gender norms in war and postwar settings. Drawing on my Ph.D. research on Nepal’s civil war (called by the Maoist rebel group) and women ex-combatants, I will present how the Maoist war shapes gender roles and relationships and how this (re) structure gender norms, intersectionality, and gender equality in the post-war context of Nepal. The study contributes to gender and armed conflict and feminist security studies. This study calls for a deeper engagement of women ex-combatants in the transition to peace to ensure women's rights and security in the postwar era. 

Speaker's Bio: Luna K C is an Assistant Professor in Global and International Studies, at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Her research focuses on gender, peace, and security, gender and armed conflict, women ex-combatants, and gender and disaster. Luna is interested in understanding how gender and intersectional factors matter in conflict, peace, security, and disaster and are shaped and reshaped by changing gender norms, gender roles, and systematic (in) equalities and how this influences policy and practice.
Before joining UNBC, Luna was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Peace and Security Studies, McGill University, and also taught and led (global policy project) at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC. Luna was also a visiting scholar at Simon Fraser University. Luna's work has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including the International Feminist Journal of Politics, the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Conflict, Security & Development, the Women's Studies International Forum, the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, and the Global Studies Quarterly. Luna is working on her book project "Conflict, Disaster and Changing Gender Roles" with Edinburgh University Press. Luna is (incoming) Co-Program Chair for Feminist Theory and Gender Studies, International Studies Association (ISA). Check Luna's Google Scholar profile for more.

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