The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women shows how political, economic, social and ideological processes intersect to shape conflict related gender-based violence against women. Through feminist interrogations of the politics of economies, struggles for political power and the gender order, this collection reveals how sexual orders and regimes are linked to spaces of production. Crucially it argues that these spaces are themselves firmly anchored in overlapping patriarchies which are sustained and reproduced during and after war through violence that is physical as well as structural.

Through an analysis of legal regimes and structures of social arrangements, this book frames militarization as a political economic dynamic, developing a radical critique of liberal peace building and peace making that does not challenge patriarchy, or modes of production and accumulation.

Kumudini Samuel is an Executive Committee member of DAWN, engaged in its cross-cutting work and concentrating on the domain of political restructuring and social transformation. She lives and works in Sri Lanka and is a co-founder and currently Director, Programmes and Research at the Women and Media Collective. She has a Masters in Women's Studies from the University of Colombo and has written and worked on gender and politics, conflict and transitions, women's movements, and sexuality.

Claire Slatter is a founding member and current Board Chair of DAWN. A Fijian national, she has an MA in Political Studies from the Australian National University and a PhD in Public Policy from Massey University and taught politics at the University of the South Pacific for 23 years. She has written, engaged in advocacy and done consulting work on issues of regional concern including neoliberal reforms, trade liberalisation, democracy and human rights, and gender and development.

Vagisha Gunasekara is a Sri Lankan researcher, affiliated with the Social Scientists' Association (SSA), Sri Lanka. She received her PhD in Political Science from Purdue University, USA. She takes primarily a political economy approach in studying particular entanglements of gender and conflict in rapidly changing situations in the South Asia region.