Over the last several years, we have seen a number of excellent books published about sexual violence in war (Sharratt Reference Sharratt2011; Heineman Reference Heineman2011; Herzog Reference Herzog2011; and Harrington Reference Harrington2010, to name but a few), and more are forthcoming. Janie Leatherman's book, Sexual Violence and Armed Conflict, is a useful addition to this growing body of literature, in that it is relatively short, geared toward the undergraduate, and offers a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between sexual violence and the political economy of war.

Using a social constructivist approach, Leatherman posits the concept of a “runaway norm”–that is, a norm that arises during a time of fear for group safety and survival, polarizing groups, and providing a rationale for dominance of these feared groups. These norms are internalized through propaganda and groupthink and become self-perpetuating. Most importantly, according to Leatherman, such runaway norms permit the shattering of traditional limits on violence. More specifically, in connection with sexual violence, several types of limits are crossed:

Indeed, Leatherman argues that “taboo violation is central to the culture of patriarchy itself” (141); that is, pushing to the final frontier, exploring virgin lands, unlocking secrets, boldly going where no man has gone before, going in without invitation, etc., is male eroticization of the forbidden, for “[d]oing something that is prohibited and getting away with it demonstrates one's power much more fully than [does] doing something acceptable” (141).

Leatherman explores each of these overtaken thresholds in turn, pointing out through examples from various conflicts how hypermasculinity and warring masculinities create grave insecurities for women. Several nonintuitive indications that gender insecurity has set in include earlier marriage for girls, increased pressure for women to be breadwinners even in the face of growing insecurity, and heightened violence against women when peacekeepers are present.

It is Leatherman's linkage between sexual violence and the global political economy of war, however, that is probably her most salient theoretical contribution in this volume. Echoing Nordstrom's identification of the “shadow sovereigns of war” behind much of the escalation of violence in conflict zones, Leatherman instructs us to ask whether these shadows would profit, economically or politically, from the emptying of a territory. If emptying a territory is advantageous, then sexual violence will ensue, for it is the surest means of accomplishing that aim. Thus, we should expect to see greater and more egregious sexual violence in wars of partition, wars of natural resource control, wars of predatory economics where pillage is the template for victory. As Leatherman notes, “the bodies of women, girls, and sometimes men may be the last lootable goods” (156).

The manner of this sexual violence is also telling. In the contexts described above, the “winner” is the group that has “pushed the envelope” the furthest with regard to terrifying sexual violence, thereby showing dominance among competing hypermasculine groups. Gang rape will be used as a form of male bonding; any extreme measure showing full control over another body, such as mutilation, cannibalism, breaking the incest taboo, etc., will be esteemed in this game of one-upsmanship. Unfortunately, the breaking of these norms in wartime will shift the boundary of acceptable behavior when peace has returned, so Leatherman notes a rise in rape during peacetime after a war in which rape was used as a weapon.

In the last chapter of her volume, which is not as strong as the preceding chapters, Leatherman discusses various means by which the logic tying sexual violence to gain in war can be weakened. The strategic use of nudity by Liberian women, and the use of their bodies as fences during peace negotiations, is one way of turning the vulnerability of women's bodies back on itself as a new symbol of strength. She also suggests that international constraints on the trade and possession of light arms is extremely important in combating the ability of shadow sovereigns to be successful and notes that most studies of the plague of small arms have not even bothered to interview women, seeing the issue as gendered solely male. Leatherman speaks also of the need to exclude sexual violence crimes from any amnesty, echoing UNSC 1820, and of expanding the notion of R2P to include women (a theme I have also discussed (Hudson et al. Reference Hudson, Ballif-Spanvill, Caprioli and Emmett2012).

In conclusion, while readers should not look to this volume for an in-depth history or accounting of sexual violence in war, and while the volume does give comparatively short shrift to mechanisms to ensure accountability, this book offers an excellent theoretical discussion in a small package, which might make for a useful adjunct text in international relations courses exploring the dynamics of war.