Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Does war increase or decrease gender equality? Existing research is inconclusive. We argue that wartime violence generates prosocial change and cooperation across gender, class, and political lines that, combined with the disruption of traditional gender roles, accelerates women’s political empowerment after the conflict ends. We test this using a natural experiment analyzing 14 neutral countries during WWII—some invaded, others spared—complemented by a comparative case study of Finland (invaded) and Sweden (neutral). Invaded countries experienced significantly faster growth in women’s political empowerment post-war. The Finland-Sweden comparison reveals that wartime cooperation between men and women—not just women’s changed roles alone—drove gains. Our findings suggest post-conflict policies should foster cross-group cooperation to consolidate women’s wartime gains.
Source: Frontiers in Political Science
Authors: Erik Melander, Jenniina Kotajoki
Institutions: Swedish Defence University, Uppsala University, ETH Zurich
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,418
OpenAlex ID: W7225310442