Louise Thiel

Louise Thiel studied Sociology, Political Science and Economics in Berlin/Germany, Barcelona/Spain and Omdourman/Sudan. In her academic research she focuses on gender studies, with an emphasis on feminist theory and the field of "power", "work" and "violence". She completed her Master's degree at the Free University of Berlin in 2007 with an analysis of the interrelation between gender and working relations in sexual harassment, based on an empirical research in North Mexican sweatshops. In addition she did internships in Cuba and Sudan and worked in several feminist groups.

PhD-Project
Gender and Violence in the Military. The (re)negotiatian of the male claim on violence and its impact on Mexican gender relations

In this PhD-project Louise Thiel analizes the nexus between gender and violence relations in the military. In April 2008 the Mexican parlament decided to open the armed forces to women. This implies a fundamental change in the gendered organization of violence, given that the state monopoly on the use of force had so far been exclusively male. Via the discourse of public security a massive militarization of the inner and external borders has recently taken place, most notably in the war on drugs in Ciudad Juárez and the counter-insurgency in Chiapas. In the course of these incidents the military in Mexico increasingly emerges as a social and political protagonist.

Based on the thesis that violence is constitutively inserted in gender relations, the central interest of this PhD-project lies in the impact caused by the opening process for the interrelation between gender and violence. The military can be conceptualized as the social organization of  particular security needs in a society. With the feminist organizational theory as theoretical approach and a qualitative research methodology, the project shall analize the practices and structures of the military in militarized spaces in Mexico and contextualize them in the gender relations of this society. Despite the recent opening of the armed forces to women in many nations, few attempts have been made to analyze its impact on gender relations so far. Hence, this PhD-project is of current relevance also beyond the regional Mexican context.

Contact
Email: louise.thiel [at] univie.ac.at
Phone: + 43 (0) 1 4277 - 49472