Bananas, Beaches And Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics

Author Cynthia Enloe presents and builds a case for her argument. She provides extensive endnotes, grounding her descriptions of the workings of government and corporations on evidence in other scholarly accounts and primary documents. In the seven areas on which she focuses, such as diplomacy and the banana industry, Enloe not only provides an account of the big picture but also details the experiences of particular women. In so doing, she humanizes her account and more thoroughly examines the theme of The Impact of International Politics on Women’s Daily Lives. Critical of the mainstream media for making women invisible in accounts of international politics, Enloe repeatedly asks where the women are. In 2003, she coined the term “feminist curiosity.” She invokes that term throughout this book to encourage women to question their roles and their place in society. She argues that women’s disempowerment throughout the world is the result of intentional choices and that women can challenge it by choosing to act and refusing to accept the status quo. Human agency, not nature or traditions, has sustained and challenged national and international politics. In making a feminist contribution to the field of international relations and studies, Enloe is challenging men’s domination of this academic area.