Works in Progress

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Goldberg, Lindsey A. “Women’s Roles and Reproductive Violence Within Rebel Organizations.” Forthcoming at Journal of Peace Research.

Abstract:

Why do armed rebel movements perpetrate intragroup reproductive violence? While extant research predominantly focuses on wartime sexual violence against civilians, the targeting of rebel women with reproductive violence remains underexplored. My research contributes new insights on how women’s idealized roles within armed rebellions shape the likelihood of these groups engaging in various forms of intragroup reproductive violence. I theorize that forced abortions are more likely to occur within rebellions that idealize women’s contributions through masculine duties like frontline combat because in these cases, pregnancy is perceived as antithetical to women’s expected contributions to the rebel movement. Conversely, forced pregnancies are more likely to occur within rebel movements that idealize women’s feminine support roles away from the frontlines because in these cases, pregnancy and motherhood are often part of rebel women’s expected contributions. I provide illustrative examples of armed rebellions characterized by these dynamics, and I introduce novel data on intragroup reproductive violence across a global sample of rebel organizations. Using this new dataset, I statistically evaluate my hypotheses and find empirical support for my claims. This research focuses on gender-based violence that occurs within rebel organizations, providing new data and new insights regarding the intragroup gender dynamics that promote reproductive violence against rebel women.

Goldberg, Lindsey A., and Brian Lai. “Leading Ladies: Gendered Perceptions of Chief Executives and International Threats.” (Under Review).

Abstract:

How do people perceive women chief executives internationally, and how do those perceptions shape foreign policy preferences? Previous research has focused on the ways in which gender stereotypes shape domestic audiences’ perceptions of their own chief executives. Past work has also demonstrated that those gendered perceptions drive how political leaders are expected to respond to national security threats. However, little research has explored how gender stereotypes shape perceptions of women chief executives in external states or how those perceptions shape foreign policy preferences across different international security contexts. We theorize that preferred actions toward international allies and adversaries are conditioned by the gender stereotypes that are leveraged against chief executives worldwide. As such, we argue that individual support for military action against an international adversary or in support of an international ally depends, in part, on whether those external states are led by a man or a woman. We test these expectations using two different survey experiments in the United States, and we find support for our claims.

Goldberg, Lindsey A. “It’s What’s Inside that Counts: Internal Gender Dynamics and the Trajectories of Armed Rebellions.”

Abstract:

How do internal gender dynamics shape the survival and outcome of armed rebel movements? Women’s expanded inclusion across combat, auxiliary, and leadership positions allows rebel groups to survive longer and better avoid defeat. However, are these benefits lost if rebel groups also commit gender-based violence against their female members? The perpetration of forced abortions compounds the positive influence women’s inclusion has on rebel group survival. However, when rebel groups include greater proportions of women and utilize forced abortions, they are ultimately less likely to succeed. Combining data on women’s activities in armed rebellion with my original data on reproductive violence against rebel women, I estimate a series of statistical models and find general support for my arguments. This research underscores the unique positionality of rebel women as contributors to political violence and potential targets of gender-based violence, along with the important relationships between these gender dynamics and civil war trajectories.

Goldberg, Lindsey A. “Providers or Perpetrators? How Rebel Governance Influences Sexual and Reproductive Violence Against Rebel Women.”

Abstract:

How do community relations between rebels and civilians shape patterns of gender-based violence within rebel organizations? Previous research has demonstrated that when rebel movements are closely intertwined with the communities they govern, rebels are less likely to perpetrate sexual and reproductive violence against civilians. However, rebel organizations face incentives to perpetrate gender-based violence against their own female members. I therefore explore whether and how rebel-civilian dynamics influence intragroup sexual and reproductive violence. Although stronger rebel-civilian relations potentially prevent violence against civilians, they do not prevent gender-based abuses against rebel women. I theorize that positive rebel-civilian relations potentially buy rebels a degree of good will from local communities who are willing to ignore or accept intragroup abuses in exchange for rebel governance. I evaluate my claims using original data on sexual and reproductive violence against rebel women, along with data on rebel governance. This work is part of a broader research agenda that focuses on gender-based violence experienced by rebel women within the very organizations they serve—patterns of violence currently underexplored in international relations literatures. Further exploring these dynamics is important as researchers, policymakers, and activists continue trying to better understand and address gendered wartime violence across the globe.

Goldberg, Lindsey A. “Jill-of-All-Trades: Women’s Roles and the Trajectories of Armed Rebellions.”

Abstract:

How does women’s participation shape the survival and outcome of armed rebel movements across the globe? Previous research suggests that expanding women’s inclusion in combat roles strengthens the probability of rebel group survival. We argue that rebel organizations face similar survival-time gains when they include greater proportions of women in auxiliary and leadership positions because women’s prevalence across these roles also prolongs the rebel-state bargaining process. In addition to surviving longer, we also expect that women’s increased prevalence in combat, auxiliary, and leadership positions corresponds with a lower likelihood of rebel group defeat. We argue that this is because of the unique, gendered benefits rebel women bring to the armed groups they join—benefits such as enhanced group reputation and skills diversification. We theorize about the internal gender dynamics of rebel organizations worldwide, elucidating connections between rebel women’s myriad roles and the longevity and outcomes of these armed movements. Combining data on women’s activities in armed rebellion with data on global conflict trajectories, we estimate a series of survival and logistic regression models to test our hypotheses. We find general support for our claims, which underscore the importance of researching women’s roles and intragroup gender dynamics in order to better understand civil war trajectories.

Goldberg, Lindsey A., and Brian Lai. “Inspired Inclusion: How Rebel Group Competition and Learning Shape Female Combatant Recruitment.”

Abstract:

When and why do rebel organizations begin recruiting women for armed combat? We examine this question through the lens of civil war diffusion processes. Previous research suggests that in a competitive rebel marketplace, armed groups face incentives to differentiate themselves from one another, and women are more empowered to make greater demands on these groups to gain access to their armed ranks. We expand upon this research by theorizing how rebel organizations compete for tangible and intangible resources and learn from one another about the strategic benefits of incorporating female combatants. We argue that greater competition among rebel groups incentivizes the recruitment of female combatants and that as these organizations learn from one another, they begin adopting this gendered recruitment strategy. We primarily use the Women in Armed Rebellion Dataset (WARD) to test our hypotheses, and we contribute new data on when rebel groups begin incorporating female combatants. The results of our statistical analyses support the idea that both competition and learning help explain how the incorporation of female combatants diffuses across armed rebellions worldwide.