High-Risk Feminism in Colombia: Women’s Mobilization in Violent Contexts

Rutgers University Press

Winner of ISA Peace Studies Section’s Best Female Scholar Book Award

Winner of ISA Feminist Theory & Gender Studies Section’s Book Award

Winner of the Conflict Research Society Book of the Year Prize

High-Risk Feminism documents the experiences of grassroots women’s organizations that united to demand gender justice during and in the aftermath of Colombia’s armed conflict. In doing so, it illustrates a little-studied phenomenon: women whose experiences with violence catalyze them to mobilize and resist as feminists, even in the face of grave danger. Despite a well-established tradition of studying women in war, we tend to focus on their roles as mothers or carers, as peacemakers, or sometimes as revolutionaries.

This book explains the gendered underpinnings of why women engage in feminist mobilization, even when this takes place in a ‘domain of losses’ that exposes them to high levels of risk. It follows four women’s organizations who break with traditional gender norms and defy armed groups’ social and territorial control, exposing them to retributive punishment. It provides rich evidence to document how women are able to surmount the barriers to mobilization when they frame their actions in terms of resistance, rather than fear.

Endorsements for High-Risk Feminism

“High Risk Feminism in Colombia updates all our frameworks to explain why women mobilize for gender justice in the face of explicit threats making them targets for violence. In Colombia—but with relevance to Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and many other contexts—Zulver shows how feminist identities and frames have evolved well beyond the strategic essentialism of motherhood, empowering current generations to protest."
-Jacqui True, author of The Political Economy of Violence Against Women

"High Risk Feminism in Colombia is a much-needed contribution to our understanding of why, how, and when women engage in gender justice struggles (feminisms), even in contexts where such visible participation puts them at high risk. This is truly an engaged project and a rigorous academic effort to bring to life the agency of women struggling for gender justice in violent contexts where their lives are threatened."
-María Emma Wills Obregón, Adjoint Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Los Andes

"Using the idea of ‘high risk feminism’ allows Julia Zulver to unpack the multiple risks faced by women activists and the strategies and reasonings they deploy to defend their rights as women. Considering the ongoing gendered violence and dispossession in Colombia and Latin America, understanding and supporting feminist activism is more important than ever."
-Jelke Boesten, co-editor of Gender and Memorial Arts: from Symbolic Reparations to Protest Movement

High-Risk Feminism was included in the International Affairs Christmas Reading List 2022: Top Ten Books.

You can also read these generous reviews of High-Risk Feminism in International Affairs , Mobilization, Politics & Gender, and Australian Institute of International Affairs (Outlook).

Media & Coverage

Watch a recording of my book launch presentation with University College London Institute of the Americas (12 May 2022), here. Comments by Professor Maxine Molyneux.

Listen to me speak with the New Books Network Podcast above.