Gender and Diplomacy: Critical Junctures, Innovations and Future Research Directions

Abstract

This edited collection aims to bring new contexts and research innovations to study the changing nature of gender in diplomacy. Whilst historically most diplomats were men, in the twenty-first century, the proportion of women (and others of diverse backgrounds) has increased markedly and in select cases, surpasses men. Digital diplomacy, glass cliffs, diplomatic gatekeeping, nation branding, queer and critical race studies and more have begun to be studied in the context of gender and diplomacy, raising new questions, in new contexts, and driving new innovations in diplomacy. How is diplomacy responding to these changes? How does gender, sexuality and race intersect to reproduce diplomatic relations? This edited collection unpacks the queering of diplomacy, the security/diplomacy nexus, gender and West/non-West distinctions in diplomacy, gender and foreign policy, and women in MFAs and foreign service.