Every year, thousands of girls and women die at the hands of blood relatives. These victims are accused of committing honor violations that bring shame upon their families: such 'transgressions' range from walking with a boy in their neighborhood to seeking to marry a man of their own choosing, to being a victim of rape. Women in the Crossfire presents a thorough examination of honor killing, an ages-old social practice through which women are trapped and subjected to terror and deadly violence as consequences of the evolution of dysfunctional patriarchal structures and competition among men for domination. To understand the practice of honor killing, its root causes, and possibilities for protection and prevention, Robert Paul Churchill considers the issues from a variety of perspectives: epistemic, anthropological, sociological, cultural, ethical, historical, and psychological. He makes use of original research by analyzing a database of honor killing cases, published here for the first time. Specifically, Women in the Crossfire addresses the salient traits and trends present in honor killing incidents and examines how honor is understood in socio-cultural contexts where these killings occur. The book aims to illuminate causal pathways that combine to produce the tragedy of honor killing. Socialization within honor-shame cultures, factors such as gender construction, child-rearing practices, and adverse experiences prime boys and men to take roles as one-day killers of sisters, daughters, and wives in the name of honor. The book further relies on theories of cultural evolution to explain how honor killing was an adaptation to specific ecological challenges and co-evolved with other patriarchic institutions. The ultimate aim of Women in the Crossfire is to convey promising methods of preventing future honor killings, and to protect girls and women from victimization.
Show moreEvery year, thousands of girls and women die at the hands of blood relatives. These victims are accused of committing honor violations that bring shame upon their families: such 'transgressions' range from walking with a boy in their neighborhood to seeking to marry a man of their own choosing, to being a victim of rape. Women in the Crossfire presents a thorough examination of honor killing, an ages-old social practice through which women are trapped and subjected to terror and deadly violence as consequences of the evolution of dysfunctional patriarchal structures and competition among men for domination. To understand the practice of honor killing, its root causes, and possibilities for protection and prevention, Robert Paul Churchill considers the issues from a variety of perspectives: epistemic, anthropological, sociological, cultural, ethical, historical, and psychological. He makes use of original research by analyzing a database of honor killing cases, published here for the first time. Specifically, Women in the Crossfire addresses the salient traits and trends present in honor killing incidents and examines how honor is understood in socio-cultural contexts where these killings occur. The book aims to illuminate causal pathways that combine to produce the tragedy of honor killing. Socialization within honor-shame cultures, factors such as gender construction, child-rearing practices, and adverse experiences prime boys and men to take roles as one-day killers of sisters, daughters, and wives in the name of honor. The book further relies on theories of cultural evolution to explain how honor killing was an adaptation to specific ecological challenges and co-evolved with other patriarchic institutions. The ultimate aim of Women in the Crossfire is to convey promising methods of preventing future honor killings, and to protect girls and women from victimization.
Show moreRobert Paul Churchill served as Elton Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University, chair of the department of philosophy, and director of the peace studies program. Author of numerous works on human rights, ethics, moral psychology, and public policy, he was president of Concerned Philosophers for Peace and the American Society for Value Inquiry. Churchill was also a founder of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World which he directed for eight years.
Churchill's book is substantive, thoroughly researched, timely, and
relevant. The author has provided a careful and caring analysis and
evaluation of honor killing. He engages in serious scholarship and
does it with a clear and focused mission of identifying a serious
problem and offering thoughtful approaches to addressing it. This
work is philosophy at its best!
*David B. Boersema, Retired Distinguished University Professor of
Philosophy, Pacific University*
This is an important book at a time when honor killings are on the
rise both in the East and West. It is unique in addressing the
definition of honor killing which is crucial to ending this scourge
against humanity and a must-read for law enforcement and the legal
system that deals with this issue.
*Raheel Raza, President Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow*
Faced with the appalling reality of 'honor killings,' the
temptation is morally and legally to condemn the fathers, the
brothers who murder their daughter, their sister. Paul Churchill, a
moral philosopher of the first order (by which I mean, in and for
the world as it is), understands that the murdering must be stopped
now, but also that social orders demanding the killings must change
if females are no longer to be at mortal risk. Drawing on
exhaustive social science research, he tries to comprehend the
cultural, historical formations that make 'honor killing' so hard
to stop in order to figure out how it might come to be rejected in
the only finally effective way -- by those who perpetrate and
perpetuate it.
*Elizabeth Minnich, Senior Scholar, Association of American
Colleges & Universities, and author of 'The Evil of Banality: On
The Life and Death Importance of Thinking' (Rowman & Littlefield,
2016)*
Disturbing as the subject is, Paul Churchill has given us a
fascinating, trenchant, and ultimately hopeful analysis of a
seemingly intractable problem. Deploying tools from several
disciplines, he unpacks the causes and consequences of these crimes
for their victims and their communities. As he explains, so-called
honor killings are symptomatic of greater challenges that this book
will help us face.
*Jonathan D. Moreno, David And Lyn Silfen University Professor Of
Ethics, University of Pennsylvania*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
