Full Citation

Title: War, Women, and the Violent Origins of Gender Equality

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2017

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: States make war, but can war also reshape a state’s citizenry? In this article, I develop a theory of how mass warfare can lead to lasting cultural legacies especially as they relate to gender. I argue that mass warfare reshapes the gendered nature of labor markets by pulling women into the labor force. Complementarities between labor markets and attitudes suggest that increasing the public role of women in the labor force should have social spillovers into egalitarian beliefs around gender roles. These beliefs can persist through processes of vertical and horizontal transmission. To test the theory, I use the United States’ involvement in WWI by combining data on mobilization rates with historical census and contemporary public opinion data. Using an instrumental variables identification strategy, I establish that historical war mobilization caused individuals today to become pro-choice, liberal, and identify with the Democratic Party. Results from a series of auxiliary tests provide evidence consistent with the causal mechanisms. At least in the United States, the march toward gender liberalization has bloody origins.

Url: http://smazumder.me/files/ww1-political-v1.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Mazumder, Soumyajit

Publisher: Harvard University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

Countries: