<p>This dissertation explores how the authoritarian regime of Park Chung-Hee (1963-1979) mobilized women as individuals and groups in transforming the agricultural state to an industrialized and modernized one. Although much has been written about the significance of Korean male elites in economic and democratic achievements, we can only find limited scholarship on women’s mobilization by the state as well as the roles of ordinary women and female elites in the national development process. My work is different in that I highlight the Park Chung-Hee regime’s colonial legacy and its broader application to women’s social and public mobilization for the national economic growth. I argue that Korean women were mobilized by the Park Chung-Hee regime as individuals and groups considered a great source to consolidate diplomatic relations with allies as well as “voluntary” social workers and as cheaper laborers.</p>

Gender provisions have the overarching goal of enhancing gender equality, however few peace agreements include strong gender provisions. The presence of strong gender provisions in ceasefire agreements has crucial implications in the immediate and post-conflict phase in improving women’s situation. I use structured, focused comparison in this study to explore when and how strong gender provisions on violence against women are adopted. I focus on conflicts with a high prevalence of sexual violence and contexts where women mobilize in the conflict to advocate for women’s rights. I demonstrate the relationship between international involvement and strong gender provisions. I argue that in civil wars with a high level of international involvement in support of peace, ceasefire agreements are more likely to include strong gender provisions on violence against women. This is possible through the mechanism of international actors serving as brokers for the women’s movement that is already mobilized to access and influence the peace process. This mechanism is particularly crucial for autocratic countries where women’s mobilization is not sufficient to lead to strong gender provisions. However, the findings are applicable to countries with other regime types.