Mar 3, 2022
Top 10 Books: International Women’s Day 2022
Krisztina Csortea
For the fourth year in a row, we’ve put together a list of our favourite books written by women and reviewed in International Affairs in the last year to celebrate International Women’s Day. Deciding what made it onto the final list proved challenging in light of the many great books reviewed in International Affairs over the last 12 months, and you can find many other great reads in our Top 5 book lists on the IA bookshelf!
1) Planet palm: how palm oil ended up in everything — and endangered the world
Written by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman. Published in London by Hurst.
A remarkable example of what can be achieved by sustained investigative journalism, Planet palm’s well researched investigation into the palm oil industry is nuanced and accessible in equal measure. Foregrounding an at times bewildering array of public and private actors, Planet palm is a must read for anyone looking to understand the environmental effects of contemporary capitalism.
Read the full review here.
2) Women’s international thought: a new history
Edited by Patricia Owens and Katharina Rietzler. Published in Cambridge by Cambridge University Press.
Owens and Rietzler have put together an edited volume that fascinatingly highlights the thought of women marginalized in mainstream histories of the discipline of international relations. The contributors to Women’s international thought represent significant interventions in debates on race and gender in the field of IR and in so doing present a compelling challenge to conventional notions of what international relations can be.
Read the full review here.
3) Dying to serve: militarism, affect and the politics of sacrifice in the Pakistan army
Written by Maria Rashid. Published in Stanford by Stanford University Press.
Dying to serve is one of those rare books whose insights illuminate its subject matter whilst having significant implications for the wider field. Maria Rashid provides a thoughtful analysis of the politics of emotion in the Pakistani army in a book that stands as a powerful example of the role emotions play in the functioning of contemporary militaries and the importance of research into emotion for understanding international politics.
Read the full review here.
4) Negotiating the New START Treaty
Written by Rose Gottemoeller. Published Amherst, NY by Cambria.
Negotiating a new start treaty combines first hand policy experience with academic rigour to illuminate the world of nuclear arms control. Gottemoeller skilfully combines accessible writing with nuanced explanations of key concepts in a book that will be valuable to scholars and practitioners looking to understand nuclear policy and diplomatic negotiation.
Read the full review here.
5) The uncounted: the politics of data in global health
Written by Sara L. M. Davis, Published in Cambridge by Cambridge University Press.
The uncounted is a highly significant contribution to understandings the politics global health and an invaluable window into the complex politics of data in health policy decision making. Davis presents a stark challenge to those who believe data can act as a one size fits all solution to health crises in a book that highlights how its uses are unavoidably enmeshed in wider questions of injustice and inequality.
Read the full review here.
6) China, the UN, and human protection: beliefs, power, image
Written by Rosemary Foot. Published in Oxford by Oxford University Press.
In China the UN and human protection Rosemary Foot offers a systematically researched and theoretically rigorous investigation into the ways China’s rise is effecting international norms of human protection. Breaking down China’s impact in policy areas from the Women Peace and Security Agenda to the Responsibility to protect, Foot’s timely and important analysis should not be missed by anyone interested in the politics of the UN system or the role of China in international politics.
Read the full review here.
7) War: how conflict shaped us
Written by Margaret MacMillan. Published in London by Profile Books.
War: how conflict shaped us is a truly ambitious study of the role of warfare in human society that spans from contemporary conflict to 3300 BC. Margret Macmillan foregrounds experiences of warfare while making a number of thought-provoking contributions on areas from the origin of war to how we understand the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of armed conflict.
Read the full review here.
8) Our bodies, their battlefield: what war does to women
Written by Christina Lamb. Published in London by Collins.
Christina Lamb presents a comprehensive account of violence against women in conflict that provokes important questions for policy-makers and researchers alike. Our bodies their battlefield manages to advance both an incisive and empathetic analysis of its subject matter whilst also making the case for centring women’s experiences in future analyses warfare in a way that cannot be ignored.
Read the full review here.
9) Narrating the Women, Peace and Security agenda: logics of global governance
Written by Laura Shepherd. Published in Oxford by Oxford University Press.
Combining theoretical innovation with a comprehensive analysis of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda , Narrating the Women, Peace and Security agenda is a testament to what narrative analysis of international politics can bring to policy focused research. In highlighting how the agenda and the ways we understand it are perforated by power hierarchies, Laura Shepherd’s ground-breaking book presents important questions for the future of WPS policy.
Read the full review here.
10) The frontlines of peace: an insider’s guide to changing the world
Written by Séverine Autesserre. Published in Oxfrod by Oxford University Press
Utilizing her policy experience Séverine Autesserre presents a compelling critique of overly technical approaches to peacebuilding that will be of interest to those working in or researching the field. Written in accessible and engaging language The frontlines of peace argues impactfully for making community engagement and participatory action central to peacebuilding processes.
Read the full review here.
Krisztina Csortea is the Managing Editor of International Affairs.
To find more suggestions from the IA Bookshelf series, click here.
If you are interested in reviewing a book for the journal or registering as a book reviewer with International Affairs you can find our book review application form here.
All views expressed are individual not institutional.
