About Article

This special issue encourages a greater integration of gender-sensi tive approaches to studies of violent extremism and terrorism. It seeks to create and inspire a dialogue by suggesting the necessity of incorporating gender analysis to fill gaps within, and further enhance, our understanding of political violence. In this introductory essay, I argue that there have traditionally been four approaches to understanding the interplay between gender and terrorism– positiv ist or “gender-as-a-variable”, instrumentalist, gendered motivations, and gender-based analysis and/or feminist methodology. Terrorism, Gender and Women: Toward an Integrated Research Agenda intends to advance a discussion of new ways in understanding how women and men can be affected by terrorism and violent extremism differ ently, and how involvement can often be influenced by highly gen dered experiences and considerations