The First Political Order: How Sex Shapes Governance and National Security Worldwide

Valerie Hudson; Donna Lee Bowen; Perpetua Lynne Nielsen

Published by Columbia University Press 2020

The First Political Order

How Sex Shapes Governance and National Security Worldwide

Valerie Hudson , Donna Lee Bowen and Perpetua Lynne Nielsen

https://doi.org/10.7312/huds19466

Overview
Contents

About this book

The First Political Order is a groundbreaking demonstration that the persistent and systematic subordination of women underlies all other institutions, with wide-ranging implications for global security and development. It offers a new paradigm for understanding insecurity, instability, autocracy, and violence.

Author / Editor information

Valerie M. Hudson is a University Distinguished Professor and George H. W. Bush Chair in the Department of International Affairs of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, where she directs the Program on Women, Peace, and Security. She is a coauthor of Sex and World Peace (Columbia, 2012) and The Hillary Doctrine: Sex and American Foreign Policy (Columbia, 2015), among others.

Donna Lee Bowen is professor emerita of political science and Middle East studies at Brigham Young University. Her publications include Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East (third edition, 2014).

Perpetua Lynne Nielsen is associate teaching professor of statistics at Brigham Young University.

Reviews

The First Political Order is a magisterial tour de force that transforms our understanding of international relations. Hudson, Bowen, and Nielsen provide a comprehensive and meticulous examination of how the systematic subordination of women around the world affects every critical outcome in world politics, from governance and security to environmental, economic, and social development. In so doing, they demonstrate how personal decisions produce systemic political consequences.

In The First Political Order, Hudson and her collaborators make the case that the subordination of women is irrefutably tied to the well-being of a nation. Skeptical? The hard data is here, drawn from an exhaustive survey of 176 countries in the WomanStats project. This is the definitive work that ends the debate about the consequences of gender inequality. The focus now must shift to how we address a global syndrome that threatens us all.

The First Political Order’s description of the pervasive damaging social consequences of institutionalized male dominance, based on a fascinating new dataset, makes devastating reading. The authors say that their findings should be foundational for any discussion about national or international security. Their argument is lucid, hugely important, and entirely convincing.

The First Political Order offers the strongest possible proof that male control of reproduction—and the violence necessary to control women's bodies—is the first step in normalizing violence and hierarchy in every society. From now on, there will be no more separating questions of politics and peace from the treatment of the females. Those days are over. Thanks to Valerie Hudson and her team of global researchers, we have a long, practical, intimate way of diminishing violence and increasing democracy.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. THE FIRST POLITICAL ORDER
1. The First Political Order Is the Sexual Political Order Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. The Oldest Security Provision Mechanism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
3. Assessing the Patrilineal/Fraternal Syndrome Today Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
PART II. THE EFFECTS OF THE FIRST POLITICAL ORDER
4. The Effects of the Syndrome, Part One: Governance and National Security Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
5. The Tremors Caused by Obstructed Marriage Markets: A Closer Look Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
6. The Effects of the Syndrome, Part Two: Human, Economic, and Environmental Security Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
7. The Effects by the Numbers: The Syndrome and Measures of National Outcome Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
PART III. CHANGE
8. Change: Historical Successes and Failures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
9. Conclusion: Contemporary Applications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
Appendix I: Syndrome Scores for 176 Countries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Appendix II: Colonial Heritage Status Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389
Appendix III: Testing the Effects: Methods and Extended Results Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	399
Appendix IV: Dichotomization Cutpoints for Logistic Regression Analysis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	475
Appendix V: High-Syndrome-Encoding Nations with Unexpectedly Good National Outcomes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	481
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	491
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	561
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	591

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Illustrations
- Other: 125 b&w figures

eBook

Published: April 20, 2020
ISBN: 9780231550932