Female Terrorism in America : Past and Current Perspectives

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of female terrorism in America, both past and present.

The volume takes a fresh look at women’s actions of left-wing political violence, right-wing political violence, and religious extremist violence (among others). It also examines the multitude of roles that women have played over the past few decades in such organizations (including leadership positions and more passive roles)―not to mention the diverse methods of recruitment, radicalization, and propaganda. The objective of this book is to examine―using a wide range of case studies, facts, statistics, and theoretical methodologies―how collective or personal factors have influenced or reinforced the actions that these women take.

Government agencies continue to underestimate the ability of women to support and perpetrate terrorism. As such, the United States is facing a wholly inaccurate and incomplete picture of the complexities of domestic terrorism, and this is contributing to a serious neglect of the issue at the national level. This volume ultimately aims to offer policy-relevant solutions to decrease the threat of domestic female political violence in the United States.

Female Terrorism in America will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, American politics, gender studies, and sociology.

Jonathan Matusitz is an Associate Professor in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida, USA.

Elena Berisha is an active member of the National Organization for Women (NOW).