Exploring Gender, Power, Nature, and Global Politics with Woman at War

Abstract

The 2018 Icelandic film entitled Woman at War deals with one of the common tensions explored in feminist literature, that of a woman being forced to choose between a public/political life and private/family life. In this case, the public life is one as an environmental justice vigilante, and the private life is becoming an adoptive mother of an orphan from the 2014 Ukraine crisis. Additionally, the film explores tensions between agency and structure, humanity and nature, and the developed world and global south. Beyond providing examples for understanding these key dichotomies, the movie also sets the stage for asking more critical questions. This article explores the rich symbolism and intriguing questions raised by the film and connects the film to pedagogical goals, including addressing issues of environmental justice and political activism from a feminist lens and with a global perspective. We also provide a practical instructor guide with discussion questions and suggested readings.

Keywords:

• Pedagogy
• gender studies
• feminism
• environmental politics
• social movements
• film
• popular culture

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ruth Castillo, Dr. Jessica Hines, Hailey Jacobsen, Dr. Jennifer Krause, and Dr. Krystin Krause for sharing their reactions to and critiques of the film. In addition, the authors would like to thank their SPSA 2021 panel for their feedback on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Table 1. Quick Reference Guide for Teaching Woman at War.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Fisher

Kayce Mobley, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bethany College in West Virginia. She has taught many different courses for undergraduates across international relations, comparative politics, and political theory. In addition to pedagogical issues, she studies the political and cultural impacts of how conflicts are remembered.

Kayce Mobley

Sarah Fisher, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Politics at Emory & Henry College in Virginia. Her research interests include conflict and college pedagogy. Sarah’s most recent published works are on research methods pedagogy and a survey project in Belize. She has taught a variety of political science courses to undergraduate, high school, and middle school students.