Editors' Introduction

We have aimed to produce this Handbook as both a work of documentation and a work of scholarship. The volume is based on the core argument that gender is necessary, conceptually, to thinking about the core issues in Security Studies; important in analyzing causes and predicting outcomes; and essential to thinking about solutions and promoting positive change. Contributions to the volume examine various aspects of studying gender and security through diverse lenses that engage diverse feminisms, with diverse policy concerns, and working with diverse theoretical contributions from scholars of security more broadly. To present this wide-ranging body of research, we have produced a Handbook organized around four major themes, each of which is explored in a specific section. These sections are: approaches to security (including theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches); gendered insecurities in global politics (including the various ways in which insecurity manifests in the world and the gendered dynamics of these manifestations); security institutions (including national, regional, and international organizations and modes of organization); and practices of security (including practices not normally considered within the remit of conventional approaches to security, such as ethical practice, and popular/cultural practices).