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Collaborative Efforts to End the War in Viet Nam: The Interactions of Women Strike for Peace, the Vietnamese Women’s Union, and the Women’s Union of Liberation, 1965–1968
Author(s) -
Frazier Jessica M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0130.2012.00754.x
Subject(s) - vietnamese , vietnam war , political science , viet nam , gender studies , political economy , sociology , law , ethnology , philosophy , linguistics
In 1965, two Women Strike for Peace (WSP) members met with members of the Vietnamese Women’s Union (VWU) of North Viet Nam and the Women’s Union of Liberation (WUL) of South Viet Nam. This meeting was the first in a series through which WSP, the VWU, and the WUL hoped to gain the attention of the American public and politicians to end the United States’ war in Viet Nam. WSP members, who emphasized their maternal concerns when they entered foreign policy debates, constructed an image of Vietnamese motherhood that mimicked the American ideal. However, the VWU and WUL, at times, undermined the imagery WSP had created by highlighting Vietnamese women’s roles in military and revolutionary efforts. This paper explores both the limits and possibilities of women’s transnational peace activism owing to an emphasis on women’s commonalities.